Ronkonkoma (LIRR station)

Ronkonkoma

Ronkonkoma Station, Main Building
Coordinates 40°48′29″N 73°06′21″W / 40.808088°N 73.1059°WCoordinates: 40°48′29″N 73°06′21″W / 40.808088°N 73.1059°W
Owned by MTA
Line(s)
  Greenport Branch
Platforms 2 side platforms
1 island platform
Spanish solution
Tracks 2
Connections Suffolk County Transit: S57, S59, 6A, 7A
Colonial Transportation to Long Island MacArthur Airport
Sunset Taxi
Construction
Disabled access Yes
Other information
Fare zone 10
History
Opened 1883
Rebuilt 1986-1997
Electrified January 18, 1988
750V (DC) third rail
Previous names Lake Ronkonkoma
Traffic
Passengers (2006) 17,278[1]
Services
Preceding station   LIRR   Following station
Main Line
(Ronkonkoma Branch)
toward Greenport
Clock tower with pedestrian bridge to Parking Garage on Lakeland Street (a.k.a. Railroad Avenue North)

Ronkonkoma is a major railroad station and transportation hub along the Main Line of the Long Island Rail Road in Ronkonkoma, New York. The station is the eastern terminus of the Ronkonkoma Branch and the western terminus of the Greenport Branch. This train station is located in the Connetquot Central School District.

The station is located on Lakeland Street or Railroad Avenue North across from the intersection of Hawkins Avenue, and has parking facilities and other amenities that extend beyond the central location. Free parking is available in the lots adjacent to the tracks on the north and south side. One parking garage north of the station was built in 1996 on a former freight spur.[2][3] The station has a total of about 6,100 parking spaces.[4] As of May 2011, 63 trains connecting to New York City stop at this station every weekday, while an additional nine make connections with stations to the east.[5]

History

Ronkonkoma Station was originally built as Lake Ronkonkoma station in 1883 as a replacement for the 1843-built Lakeland station designed to serve both Lakeland, New York and Ronkonkoma, New York, as well as the 1853-built Hermanville station, designed for a former community along the south side of the tracks.[6] The station house was burned in 1934 and a temporary rectangular one-story building with a gabled roof was used until September 1937, when the second Ronkonkoma station was completed.

Since December 28, 1987, it has been the east end of the Main Line electrification[7] but stations east of Ronkonkoma have been modified for future electrification. The 1937 station was used for storage until it was razed in 1994 when part of the parking lot was extended westward. The current station was designed by architect Richard Henry Behr.[8] Ronkonkoma Yard is also located east of the station, in close proximity to the former Holbrook station, which was torn down in 1962,[9] and has taken in commuters from the former Holtsville station since March 16, 1998.

Platforms and tracks

1 ■Ronkonkoma Branch toward New York (Central Islip)
■Greenport Branch toward Greenport (Medford)
2 ■Ronkonkoma Branch toward New York (Central Islip)
■Greenport Branch toward Greenport (Medford)

This station has three high-level platforms each 12 cars long. The north one, Platform A, is a side platform next to Track 1. The central one, Platform B, is an island platform next to both tracks to facilitate cross-platform interchange when a Ronkonkoma Branch train is meeting a Greenport train (a.k.a. "The Greenport Scoot").[10] The south one, Platform C, is a side platform next to Track 2. The Main Line has two tracks here.

References

  1. ↑ Average weekday, 2006 LIRR Origin and Destination Study
  2. ↑ Ronkonkoma Milepost 48-49; Emery map - October 1957
  3. ↑ View Wye North (1978 Photo by Steve Lynch)
  4. ↑ "Ronkonkoma Parking Lot Renovation Completed; Almost 300 New Spots Now Available" (Press release). Long Island Rail Road. 2010-03-04. Retrieved 2010-03-09.
  5. ↑ "LIRR schedule for Ronkonkama" (PDF). Retrieved 2011-05-14.
  6. ↑ "HERMANNVILLE". arrts-arrchives.com.
  7. ↑ "LIRR Ronkonkoma Electrification 1987". trainsarefun.com.
  8. ↑ "Richard Henry Behr Architect P.C.". rhbpc.com.
  9. ↑ Ronkonkoma/Holbrook Milepost 49-50; Emery map (TrainsAreFun.com)
  10. ↑ "e-Train - TCA, Toy Trains, Train Collectors Association". tcaetrain.org.

External links

Media related to Ronkonkoma (LIRR station) at Wikimedia Commons