Port Jefferson Branch

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Port Jefferson Branch
Just west of Stony Brook Station
Info
Type Commuter rail
System Long Island Rail Road
Status Operational
Locale Nassau and Suffolk County, New York, USA
No. of stations 10
Service routes
Port Jefferson Branch
Operation
Opened 1854-1873
Owner Long Island Rail Road
Operator(s) Metropolitan Transportation Authority
Technical
Gauge 4 ft 8½ in (1,435 mm)
Electrification Third rail (west of Huntington)
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The Port Jefferson Branch is a rail line and service owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in the U.S. state of New York. The branch begins at the Main Line just east of Hicksville station, and runs northeast and east to Port Jefferson. LIRR maps and schedules indicate that the Port Jefferson Branch service continues west along the Main Line to Floral Park, which is where the Hempstead Branch begins to parallel the Main Line. However, the Hempstead Branch does not merge with the Main Line until east of Queens Village, and so the Main Line between Floral Park and Queens Village is served by Port Jefferson Branch trains.[1][2]

The Port Jefferson Branch is one of the busier branches of the LIRR, with frequent electric service to Huntington, and diesel service east of Huntington.

Contents

[edit] Route description and plans

Port Jefferson Branch service in Nassau County begins when the Hempstead Branch separates from the Main Line at the Queens Interlocking in Bellerose. The line from Queens Interlocking to Huntington is electrified and double tracked. Electrification extends to a point east of Huntington before Greenlawn Station on a layup track for electric trains. The line east of that point is not electrified and has a single track with passing sidings at Greenlawn, east of Northport, Kings Park, Smithtown and Stony Brook.

Stations on the electrified portion that have the heaviest traffic include Mineola, Hicksville, and Huntington. On the non-electrified portion, the heaviest traffic tends to be to the Stony Brook station where the State University of New York at Stony Brook is located.

There are occasional plans to electrify this line past Huntington, at least to Northport, in conjunction with the construction of a planned new electric train yard, to alleviate overcrowding and service limitations on the Ronkonkoma Branch, and to otherwise accommodate increased ridership expected once the East Side Access project to Grand Central Terminal is completed.[3] As of 2006, funding for this project has been deferred to a future capital budget and preparation of the Environmental Impact Statement has been suspended.

In addition, a third Main Line track from Bellerose to Mineola has also been proposed in order to provide increased services.

Most Port Jefferson electric trains operate the full route from Penn Station to Huntington. Supplemental service is provided on Ronkonkoma Branch trains to Mineola and Hicksville. Additional service to Mineola is provided by Oyster Bay Branch trains, and some Patchogue-bound Montauk Branch trains also stop at Mineola and Hicksville during the weekdays. During off-peak hours, including weekends, a diesel shuttle runs between either Hicksville or Huntington and Port Jefferson. During rush hours, there are specialized services to and from stations west of, and including, Huntington Station. These services provide for express service, through service to Flatbush Avenue, and service to Penn Station that bypasses Jamaica. Also, east-of-Huntington service is extended to Jamaica, Hunterspoint Avenue, Long Island City, or Penn Station.[citation needed]

[edit] History

The line from Hicksville to Syosset opened in 1854. The LIRR later planned to extend to Cold Spring Harbor, but Oliver Charlick, the LIRR's president, disagreed over the station's location, so Charlick abandoned the grade and relocated the extension south of Cold Spring, refusing to add a station stop near Cold Spring for years. Another argument at Huntington led to the line bypassing the town two miles (3 km) to the south, though a station was built. The line was extended from Syosset past Huntington to Northport in 1868,[4] and in 1873 the Smithtown and Port Jefferson Railroad opened from a mile south of Northport to Port Jefferson,[5] turning the old line into Northport into the Northport Branch, the result of another argument between Charlick and Northport.[6]

The Port Jefferson Branch formerly extended to Wading River, and was once slated to continue eastward and rejoin the Main Line at Riverhead. The line east of Port Jefferson was abandoned in 1938. The right-of-way is now used for the Long Island Power Authority's power lines.


[edit] Station listing

Station/
location
Station
link
Miles (kilometers)
to Penn Station
Connections/notes Geographic Coordinates
For continuing service to Jamaica and points west, see Hempstead Branch
Floral Park (limited service)
Tulip Avenue and Atlantic Avenue, Floral Park
[1] 16.9 40°43′28.20″N, 73°42′24.65″W
New Hyde Park Handicapped/disabled access
New Hyde Park and 2nd Avenue, New Hyde Park
[2] 18.2 (29.3) Bus (MTA Long Island Bus): N24, N25 40°43′51.22″N, 73°40′50.16″W
Merillon Avenue Handicapped/disabled access
Nassau Boulevard and Merillon Avenue, New Hyde Park
[3] 19.3 (31.1) 40°44′6.42″N, 73°39′46.51″W
Mineola Handicapped/disabled access
Front Street and Mineola Boulevard, Mineola
[4] 20.5 (33.0) Transfer to Oyster Bay Branch trains
Bus (MTA Long Island Bus): N22, N23, N24, N40, N41, N78, N79
40°44′24.67″N, 73°38′29.97″W
Carle Place Handicapped/disabled access
Cherry Lane and Atlantic Avenue, Carle Place
[5] 22.4 (36.0) Bus (MTA Long Island Bus): N22 40°44′57.22″N, 73°36′13.34″W
Westbury Handicapped/disabled access
Union Avenue and Post Avenue Westbury
[6] 23.4 (37.7) Bus (MTA Long Island Bus): N22, N35 40°45′11.53″N, 73°35′13.20″W
Hicksville Handicapped/disabled access
Newbridge Road (Route 106) and West Barclay Street, Hicksville
[7] 26.8 (43.1) Transfer to Ronkonkoma Branch trains
Bus (MTA Long Island Bus): N20, N22, N48, N49, N50, N73, N74, N78, N79, N80, N81, N94
40°46′0.43″N, 73°31′47.29″W
Landia
Locust Grove
closed October 3, 1973
Syosset Handicapped/disabled access
Oyster Bay Road/Jackson Avenue and Underhill Avenue, Syosset
[8] 31.0 (49.9) 40°49′29.61″N, 73°30′1.77″W
Cold Spring Harbor Handicapped/disabled access
West Pulaski Road and East Gate Drive, Cold Spring Harbor
[9] 34.0 (54.7) 40°50′6.20″N, 73°27′5.80″W
Huntington Handicapped/disabled access
New York Avenue (Route 110) and Broadway, Huntington Station
[10] 36.6 (58.9) Bus (Suffolk County Transit): S1
Bus (Huntington Area Rapid Transit): H9, Red & Blue Huntington Station Feeder Routes
40°51′9.69″N, 73°24′38.30″W
Greenlawn Handicapped/disabled access
Broadway (Centerport Road) and Boulevard Avenue, Greenlawn
[11] 39.4 (63.4) Bus (Huntington Area Rapid Transit): H4, H6 40°52′7.17″N, 73°21′46.70″W
Northport Village
Northport
closed 1899
Northport Handicapped/disabled access
Larkfield Road and Bellerose Avenue, Northport
[12] 42.5 (68.4) Bus (Suffolk County Transit): S41
Bus (Huntington Area Rapid Transit): H4, H6
40°52′50.57″N, 73°19′42.60″W
Kings Park Handicapped/disabled access
Indian Head Road and Main Street, Kings Park
[13] 45.3 (72.9) Bus (Suffolk County Transit): S56 40°53′1.39″N, 73°15′20.95″W
Smithtown Handicapped/disabled access
Redwood Lane and Scott Lane, Smithtown
[14] 49.0 (78.9) Bus (Suffolk County Transit): S45 40°51′22.55″N, 73°11′57.38″W
St. James Handicapped/disabled access
Lake Avenue and 2nd Street, St. James
[15] 51.5 (82.9) 40°52′59.78″N, 73°9′29.35″W
Flowerfield
Head of the Harbor
closed 1958
Stony Brook Handicapped/disabled access
North Country Road (Route 25A) and Chapman Street, Stony Brook
[16] 55.1 (88.7) Bus (Suffolk County Transit): S71, S76, 3D
Bus(SUNY @ Stony Brook's Campus Buses): O & R.
40°55′12.99″N, 73°7′42.65″W
Setauket
Setauket
closed c. 1980
Port Jefferson Handicapped/disabled access
Route 112 (Main Street) and Oakland Avenue, Port Jefferson Station
[17] 59.4 (95.6) Bus (Suffolk County Transit): S60, S61, S62, S69, S76, 5A
Ferry to Bridgeport, Connecticut at Port Jefferson
40°56′4.63″N, 73°3′13.18″W
The following stations were on the former Wading River Branch which was abaondoned on October 3, 1938
Miller Place
Miller Place
closed October 9, 1938
Rocky Point
Rocky Point
closed October 9, 1938
Shoreham
Shoreham
closed October 9, 1938
Wading River
Wading River
closed October 9, 1938

[edit] References

  1. ^ MTA LIRR - LIRR Map
  2. ^ LIRR Port Jefferson Branch Timetable
  3. ^ Port Jefferson Branch Yard EIS
  4. ^ PRR Chronology, 1868PDF (93.8 KiB), June 2004 Edition
  5. ^ PRR Chronology, 1873PDF (100 KiB), February 2005 Edition
  6. ^ Ron Ziel and George H. Foster, Steel Rails to the Sunrise, ©1965

[edit] External links