The Ronkonkoma Branch is a

rail service Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to road ...

operated by the

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 ...

(LIRR) in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. On LIRR maps and printed schedules, the "Ronkonkoma Branch" includes trains running along the railroad's Main Line from Hicksville (where the

Port Jefferson Branch 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 (state), New York. The branch splits from the Main Line (Long Island Rail Road), Main Line just east of Hicksville ...

leaves the Main Line) to Ronkonkoma, and between Ronkonkoma and the Main Line's eastern

terminus Terminus may refer to: Ancient Rome *Terminus (god), a Roman deity who protected boundary markers Transport *Terminal train station or terminus, a railway station serving as an end destination *Bus terminus, a bus station serving as an end des ...

at Greenport. The section of the Main Line east of Ronkonkoma is not electrified and is referred to as the Greenport Branch. The western segment between Hicksville and Ronkonkoma sees 24-hour service to

Penn Station Pennsylvania Station or Penn Station may refer to: Current train stations * Baltimore Penn Station * New York Penn Station ** Pennsylvania Station (1910–1963), the predecessor to the present New York City station * Newark Penn Station Train ...

and

Grand Central Madison Grand Central Madison – also known colloquially as the Madison Concourse or simply Grand Central – is a commuter rail terminal for the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) in the Midtown East neighborhood of Manhattan, in New York City. It sits be ...

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 ...

. The eastern segment between Ronkonkoma and Greenport is served by diesel-electric trains, and only sees a handful of trips each day. The eastern segment is also the only

dark territory Dark territory is a term used in the North American railroad industry to describe a section of running track not controlled by signals. Train movements in dark territory were previously handled by timetable and train order operation, but since ...

area of the Long Island Rail Road, meaning that it does not have signals.

Segments

Hicksville to Ronkonkoma

The western segment of the line from Hicksville to Ronkonkoma was

electrified Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. In the context of history of technology and economic development, electrification refe ...

in 1987, creating a one-seat ride to

. Formerly, service on this segment was provided by diesel trains, which could not enter Penn Station, requiring a transfer. Average rush-hour trip time from Ronkonkoma to Penn Station decreased from 97 minutes pre-electrification (including the mandatory transfer from a diesel to an electric train) to 71 minutes afterwards. The $168.5 million project attracted many new passengers. A survey of peak-hour Ronkonkoma Branch passengers conducted by the LIRR in April 1988 found that 42 percent of the branch's passengers were new to the line: 34 percent switched from other lines (the

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 ...

and

Montauk Branch The Montauk Branch is a rail line owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in the U.S. state of New York. The line runs the length of Long Island, 115 miles (185 km) from Long Island City to Montauk. However, in LIRR maps and sche ...

es), 6 percent were new to the LIRR as a whole and 2 percent recently returned to the LIRR. By September 1988, over 2,000 new riders during the morning rush hour had switched to the Ronkonkoma Branch, much of which occurred in the first month after electrification, faster than the LIRR expected. Commuters complained that the expanded parking facilities at Ronkonkoma built in anticipation of electrification were overcrowded and already inadequate, and that double-parking and vandalism were rampant. In the decades since, the amount of parking at Ronkonkoma has expanded. In 2012, the

Metropolitan Transportation Authority The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is a New York state public benefit corporations, public benefit corporation in New York (state), New York State responsible for public transportation in the New York metropolitan area, New York Ci ...

(MTA) started adding a second track to the line between Farmingdale and Ronkonkoma to increase capacity. The project was ultimately completed in 2018.

Greenport Branch

The segment between and , known as the Greenport Branch, is the only remaining

area on the Long Island Rail Road, meaning that it does not have signals. The relatively small amount of train movements on this segment are governed by train orders and timetable authority. This segment is served by diesel-electric "scoots", all of which terminate at Ronkonkoma, requiring customers traveling west of Ronkonkoma to transfer there. Three eastbound and four westbound scoots travel each weekday between Ronkonkoma and Greenport. Also, one additional round trip is scheduled between Ronkonkoma and Riverhead (formerly ) each weekday. Weekend service consists of four round-trips each day between Ronkonkoma and Greenport. On Fridays during the summer, the eastbound trip to Riverhead is extended to Greenport, and the westbound run from Riverhead to Ronkonkoma does not operate. Also, during summers between 2016 and 2022, an additional evening trip ran from Greenport to , running express between Ronkonkoma and Jamaica; this was the only Greenport scoot trip to serve the New York City terminals. The Greenport Branch has the most modest ridership among LIRR services for which data is available. In 2018, the LIRR's second–least used service (the West Hempstead Branch) had more than 14 times as many riders as the Greenport Branch did; in the same year, Greenport Branch riders accounted for 0.08% of LIRR ridership overall. The LIRR has cited these ridership trends in attempts to end service east of Ronkonkoma. In 2010, the idea was entertained by the financially troubled MTA, who proposed eliminating all scoot service except for the popular summer weekend service. Ultimately, weekday service remained, but weekend service outside of the summer season (defined as

Memorial Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. It is observed on the last Monday of May. It i ...

Columbus Day Columbus Day is a national holiday in many countries of the Americas and elsewhere, and a federal holiday in the United States, which officially celebrates the anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas. He went ashore at ...

) was discontinued. In 2013, the span of weekend service was extended to operate from the first weekend in May to the last weekend in November. In 2016, the LIRR restored year-long weekend service between Ronkonkoma and Greenport.

Central Branch

Some LIRR maps also include as part of the Ronkonkoma Branch the non-electrified Central Branch, which splits from the Ronkonkoma Branch east of Bethpage and connects with the more southern

, just west of

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 ...

. There are no stations along this stretch, and it is mainly used by trains with diesel-electric engines going express from Jamaica to Babylon. No trains using this track appear on Ronkonkoma Branch schedules; they appear on Montauk Branch and Babylon Branch schedules, and some appear on schedules for Mineola and Hicksville on the Main Line, if a stop is scheduled there.

History and current projects

Greenport enhancements

Despite proposing to eliminate most service east of Ronkonkoma, the MTA is enhancing the segment's infrastructure. The LIRR is required to install a

positive train control Positive train control (PTC) is a family of automatic train protection systems deployed in the United States. Most of the United States' national rail network mileage has a form of PTC. These systems are generally designed to check that trains a ...

signaling system on all its trackage by the end of 2018. The MTA initially budgeted $29 million in its 2015–2019 capital program to add signals along the 10 mile segment from Ronkonkoma to Yaphank. This upgrade would install signals, track circuits and automatic speed control (ASC). However, in a 2017 amendment of the capital program, the agency postponed the construction of the new signal system, only including $2 million to fund design. After positive train control was activated on the easternmost portion of the

in November 2017, the Greenport Branch became the only portion of the LIRR that lacked positive train control. In its 2015–2034 20-Year Capital Needs Assessment, the MTA describes extending electrification eastward from Ronkonkoma to Yaphank or Riverhead, as well as the addition of a second track between Ronkonkoma and Yaphank as long-term needs. However, the MTA cites the high cost of electrification and other components as a barrier to present-day action. If electrification were to be extended eastward, stations would also need upgrading, since all station platforms east of Ronkonkoma are only long enough to fit one-and-a-half train cars.

Stations

West of , trips typically terminate at or .

References

{{Long Island Rail Road Long Island Rail Road branches Transportation in Nassau County, New York Transportation in Suffolk County, New York