Long Beach (LIRR station)

Long Beach

The restored 1909-built Long Beach Station
Location Park Avenue & Park Place
Long Beach, New York
Coordinates 40°35′22″N 73°39′53″W / 40.589368°N 73.664854°W / 40.589368; -73.664854Coordinates: 40°35′22″N 73°39′53″W / 40.589368°N 73.664854°W / 40.589368; -73.664854
Owned by MTA
Line(s)
  Long Beach Branch
Platforms 2 island platforms
Tracks 10
Connections Long Beach Bus: N69, East Loop, West Loop, Shopper's Special
Nassau Inter-County Express: n15, n33
Construction
Parking Yes
Bicycle facilities Bicycle Racks in Parking Garage/Bus Terminal
Disabled access Yes
Other information
Fare zone 7
History
Opened June 1909
Rebuilt 1988
Electrified September 1910
750 V (DC) third rail
Traffic
Passengers (2006) 8,721[1]
Services
Preceding station   LIRR   Following station
Long Beach BranchTerminus
Current and former locations
Queenswater station Long Beach Branch

Long Beach is the terminus of the Long Beach Branch of the Long Island Rail Road. It is located at Park Place and Park Avenue in the City of Long Beach, New York.

The MTA offers a package which includes train fare and admission to the beach.[2]

History

Long Beach Station was originally built in 1880 by the New York and Long Beach Railroad, however it was much closer to the Atlantic Ocean than the present station. The site was surrounded by Broadway, Penn Street, Edwards Boulevard and Riverside Boulevard, and served the grand Long Beach Hotel,[3] which Austin Corbin claimed was the world's largest hotel.[4] It also included a clock tower on the station house, a water tower, and a gazebo. Additionally, it had a connection to the Long Beach Marine Railway, which served Lido Beach and Point Lookout. The hotel burned down on July 27, 1907 in what was officially ruled as an electrical fire.[5]

Due to repeated storm damage to rails and other equipment, the LIRR petitioned the New York State Public Service Commission to move the station 1000 feet north in January 1909, which was fully endorsed by the Estates of Long Beach who even offered to exchange land with the railroad.[6] That permission was granted in February of the same year. The present depot at Park Avenue was built in June 1909, and is larger than the previous station off the Atlantic Coast. It was designed by Kenneth M. Murchison, who also designed the 1913-built Jamaica station[7] and Hoboken Terminal. Over a year later, the station and the line were electrified. The station was renovated in 1988. Another renovation in the early 2000s added a parking garage, bus depot, and platform bridge. The bus depot is on Centre Street adjacent to the station building, and the parking garage contains a section for bicycles.

Long Beach Club House Station

Prior to the relocation, another station named Club House Station (not to be confused with the Club House station on the Montauk Branch in Great River, New York) existed nearby at what is today Market Street and National Boulevard. Originally a signal stop built in April 1898, it contained a path leading to a club house on the coast of Reynolds Channel The station was closed in 1909 when Long Beach Station was moved to the channel.

Platforms and tracks

3 ■ Long Beach Branch toward New York (Island Park)
4 ■ Long Beach Branch toward New York (Island Park)
5 ■ Long Beach Branch toward New York (Island Park)
6 ■ Long Beach Branch toward New York (Island Park)

This station has two high-level island platforms. The east platform between Tracks 3 and 4 is 10 cars long. The west platform between Tracks 5 and 6 is eight cars long.

There are 10 tracks total. The six tracks not next to the platforms (two to the east of the station and four to the west) are used for train storage.

References

  1. ↑ Average weekday, 2006 LIRR Origin and Destination Study
  2. ↑ "Life's a Beach on Long Island; The MTA LIRR is the "Greenest Way" to a Summer in Blue Ocean and White Sand Luxury". MTA. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  3. ↑ Original Long Beach Station & Branch (Arrt's Arrchives)
  4. ↑ The Long Beach Hotel: 1880-1907 (I Love Long Beach New York.com)
  5. ↑ "1907: Fire Destroys Hotel," In Our Pages, International Herald Tribune, accessed 29 July 2007
  6. ↑ "The Long Island Rail Road: A Comprehensive History Volume #5(New York, Woodhaven & Rockaway Railroad; New York & Rockaway Beach railway; New York & Long Beach Railroad; New York & Rockaway railroad; Brooklyn rapid transit operation to Rockaway; Over L.I.R.R.)", by Vincent F. Seyfried
  7. ↑ Images of Rail: Jamaica Station, by David D. Morrison (Arcadia Publishing; 2011)
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