Hunterspoint Avenue (LIRR station)

Hunterspoint Avenue

West end of station
Station statistics
Address Hunterspoint Avenue & Skillman Avenue
Long Island City, New York
Lines
Connections New York City Subway:
  at Hunters Point Avenue
NYCT Bus: B62, Q67
Platforms 1 island platform
Tracks 2
Other information
Opened 1860
Closed 1902
Rebuilt 1878, 1903, 1914
Electrified June 16, 1910
750V (DC) third rail
Owned by MTA
Fare zone 1
Traffic
Passengers (2006) 6,479[1]
Services
Preceding station   LIRR   Following station
Terminus
Main Line
(City Terminal Zone)

Hunterspoint Avenue is a station on the Main Line of the Long Island Rail Road within the City Terminal Zone. It is at Hunters Point Avenue (49th Avenue) and Skillman Avenue in Long Island City, Queens. The station has an island platform between two tracks and is not wheelchair accessible.

The station is served only during weekday rush hours in the peak direction (to Hunterspoint Avenue from Long Island in the morning, from Hunterspoint Avenue to Long Island in the evening). Trains are normally run through to and from the Oyster Bay, Montauk, or Port Jefferson Branches, with one Ronkonkoma-bound train also departing from Hunterspoint Avenue in the late afternoon. Some westbound trains continue to Long Island City, and some eastbound trains originate in Long Island City. Most service is on diesel trains that cannot use the East River Tunnels, but the tracks are electrified and a few trips are served by electric trains.

Contents

History

Hunterspoint Avenue station opened in August 1860, three years before the New York and Flushing Railroad built their own Hunter’s Point station. LIRR's Hunterspoint Avenue was renovated in April 1878, but burned in a fire in December 1902. The station was replaced on April 26, 1903, only to be rebuilt again nine years later. According to a New York Times article from May 1914, the third station was scheduled to open on July 1, 1914.[2] Instead, the reopening date was delayed until October 18, 1914.[3]

In June 1947, only two weekday trains were scheduled east from Hunterspoint Ave, one to Jamaica and one to Queens Village. Trains destined beyond electrified territory could leave Penn Station behind DD1 electric locomotives and change engines at Jamaica; thirteen weekday trains did so. That service ended in 1951, leading to Hunterspoint Avenue's present role.

Platform and tracks

The station has one 10-car long high-level island platform between the two Main Line tracks, with stairways on both sides of 49th Avenue (Hunters Point Avenue).

Gallery

References

  1. ^ Average weekday, 2006 LIRR Origin and Destination Study
  2. ^ "New Railway Station; At Hunters Point Avenue, L.I. City, to Open July 1". The New York Times: p. XX1. May 3, 1914. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9E07E5D71E39E633A25750C0A9639C946596D6CF. Retrieved 2010-02-12. 
  3. ^ "Long Island Rail Road Alphabetical Station Listing and History". trainsarefun.com. http://www.trainsarefun.com/lirrphotos/lirrstationshistory.htm. Retrieved 2010-02-12. 

External links