The City Terminal Zone is the set of
Long Island Rail Road
The Long Island Rail Road , or LIRR, is a Rail transport, railroad in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, stretching from Manhattan to the eastern tip of Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk County on Long Islan ...
lines within
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
west of
Jamaica station, except the
Port Washington Branch.
Routes
Current routes
There are four routes that are part of the City Terminal Zone:
*
New York Penn Station
Pennsylvania Station (also known as New York Penn Station or simply Penn Station) is the main intercity railroad station in New York City and the busiest transportation facility in the Western Hemisphere, serving more than 600,000 passengers ...
(NYP) – Trains that, from Jamaica, travel west along the
Main Line to Penn Station in Manhattan via the
East River Tunnels.
*
Grand Central Madison (GCM) – Trains that travel along the
Main Line to Grand Central Madison via
East Side Access
East Side Access (ESA) is a public works project in New York City that extended the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) two miles from its Main Line (Long Island Rail Road), Main Line in Queens to the new Grand Central Madison station under Grand Cent ...
, which includes the lower level of the
63rd Street Tunnel
The 63rd Street Tunnel is a double-deck subway and railroad tunnel under the East River between the Borough of New York City, boroughs of Manhattan and Queens in New York City. Opened in 1989, it is the newest of the East River tunnels, as we ...
and a new tunnel under
Park Avenue
Park Avenue is a boulevard in New York City that carries north and southbound traffic in the borough (New York City), boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. For most of the road's length in Manhattan, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the wes ...
.
Due to clearance restrictions in the tunnel, the
C3 bilevel cars cannot access the terminal.
*
Atlantic Terminal
Atlantic Terminal (formerly Flatbush Avenue) is the westernmost commuter rail terminal on the Long Island Rail Road's (LIRR) Atlantic Branch, located at Flatbush Avenue and Atlantic Avenue in Downtown Brooklyn, New York City. It is the prima ...
(AT) – Trains that travel along the
Atlantic Branch to Brooklyn.
*
Long Island City
Long Island City (LIC) is a neighborhood within the New York City borough of Queens. It is bordered by Astoria to the north; the East River to the west; Sunnyside to the east; and Newtown Creek, which separates Queens from Greenpoint, Brook ...
(LIC) – Trains that serve
Hunterspoint Avenue and Long Island City in Queens. These trains also use the Main Line west of Jamaica, but typically skip
Woodside,
Forest Hills, and
Kew Gardens
Kew Gardens is a botanical garden, botanic garden in southwest London that houses the "largest and most diverse botany, botanical and mycology, mycological collections in the world". Founded in 1759, from the exotic garden at Kew Park, its li ...
. This route is served only during weekday rush hours in the peak direction (to Long Island City in the morning, from Long Island City in the afternoon).
Former routes
The City Terminal Zone formerly included the
Lower Montauk Branch from Long Island City to Jamaica until passenger service on that route was discontinued in November 2012. This line formerly included
Penny Bridge,
Haberman,
Fresh Pond,
Glendale, and
Richmond Hill stations until they were closed in March 1998.
Stations
East of , trains continue in Long Island on the Main Line (
Hempstead,
Oyster Bay,
Port Jefferson
Port Jefferson, also known as Port Jeff, is an Administrative divisions of New York (state)#Village, incorporated village in the Administrative divisions of New York (state)#Town, town of Brookhaven, New York, Brookhaven in Suffolk County, New Y ...
,
Ronkonkoma), Atlantic Branch (
Far Rockaway and
Long Beach
Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...
), and Montauk Branch (
West Hempstead,
Babylon
Babylon ( ) was an ancient city located on the lower Euphrates river in southern Mesopotamia, within modern-day Hillah, Iraq, about south of modern-day Baghdad. Babylon functioned as the main cultural and political centre of the Akkadian-s ...
,
Montauk).
The Atlantic Terminal, Nostrand Avenue, and East New York stations are primarily served by a shuttle running between Atlantic Terminal and Jamaica. These stations are also served by select trains on the West Hempstead Branch on weekdays only, and a limited number of weekday peak trains from the Hempstead and Babylon branches. Other trains traveling east of Jamaica only run to Penn Station, Grand Central Madison, or Long Island City.
Future stations
The MTA planned a
new station in Sunnyside, Queens, once
East Side Access
East Side Access (ESA) is a public works project in New York City that extended the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) two miles from its Main Line (Long Island Rail Road), Main Line in Queens to the new Grand Central Madison station under Grand Cent ...
was completed. The MTA later proposed in their 20-year needs assessment for 2025 to 2044 that Sunnyside station serve both the LIRR and the Metro-North Railroad, with the latter providing service to Penn Station after
Penn Station Access is completed.
See also
*
List of Long Island Rail Road stations
References
External links
City Terminal Zone branch timetable
{{Long Island Rail Road
Long Island Rail Road branches
Transportation in Manhattan
Transportation in Brooklyn
Transportation in Queens, New York