Jamaica station

Jamaica
Track 3, Platform B at Jamaica station, looking west.
General information
Location93-02 Sutphin Boulevard
Jamaica, Queens, New York
Coordinates40°41′59″N 73°48′28″W / 40.69972°N 73.80778°W / 40.69972; -73.80778
Line(s)
Distance
[1]
Platforms6 island platforms (cross-platform interchange)
Tracks10
Bus operatorsMTA New York City Transit, Nassau Inter County Express
Connections
Construction
ParkingYes
AccessibleYes
Other information
Fare zone3
History
Opened1836; 188 years ago (1836)
Rebuilt1912–1913; 111 years ago (1913),
2001–2006; 18 years ago (2006)
Passengers
2017over 200,000 on weekdays[2]
Rank2 of 125[3]
Services
Preceding station Long Island Rail Road Following station
East New York City Terminal Zone
Atlantic shuttle
Terminus
Kew Gardens Hempstead Branch Hollis
toward Hempstead
East New York
Woodside Belmont Park Branch
special events
Belmont Park
Terminus
Kew Gardens Long Beach Branch Locust Manor
toward Long Beach
East New York
AM/PM peak service[4]
Penn Station
Terminus
Oyster Bay Branch Mineola
toward Oyster Bay
Hunterspoint Avenue
limited service
Kew Gardens Ronkonkoma Branch Mineola
toward Ronkonkoma
Elmont–UBS Arena
limited service
toward Ronkonkoma
Penn Station
Terminus
Montauk Branch Babylon
toward Montauk
Hunterspoint Avenue
limited service
Mineola
limited service
toward Montauk
Penn Station
Terminus
Cannonball
summers only
Westhampton
One-way operation
Kew Gardens Far Rockaway Branch Locust Manor
East New York
AM/PM peak service[5]
Woodside Babylon Branch Lynbrook
toward Babylon
East New York
AM/PM peak service[6]
Kew Gardens West Hempstead Branch St. Albans
East New York
Kew Gardens Port Jefferson Branch Floral Park
Hunterspoint Avenue
limited service
Hollis
limited service
East New York
See AirTrain JFK section
for Jamaica Train service
Former services
Preceding station Long Island
Rail Road
Following station
Dunton Main Line Union Hall Street
toward Greenport
Dunton Montauk Division Union Hall Street
toward Montauk
Dunton Atlantic Division Cedar Manor
Proposed services
Preceding station Amtrak Following station
New York Northeast Regional Mineola
toward Ronkonkoma
Location
Map

The Jamaica station is a major train station of the Long Island Rail Road located in Jamaica, Queens, New York City. With weekday ridership exceeding 200,000 passengers,[8] it is the largest transit hub on Long Island, the fourth-busiest rail station in North America, and the second-busiest station that exclusively serves commuter traffic. It is the third-busiest rail hub in the New York area, behind Penn Station and Grand Central Terminal. Over 1,000 trains pass through each day, the fourth-most in the New York area behind Penn Station, Grand Central Terminal, and Secaucus Junction.

The Jamaica station is located on an embankment above street level and contains six platforms and ten tracks for LIRR trains. A concourse above the LIRR platforms connects to a station on the AirTrain JFK elevated people mover to John F. Kennedy International Airport, which contains two tracks and one platform. There are also connections to the Archer Avenue lines of the New York City Subway at a separate station directly below. The area just outside is served by several local bus routes, and others terminate within a few blocks of the station.

The station is located at the junction between the LIRR's three main trunk routes, its Main Line, Atlantic Branch, and Montauk Branch. Due to this, all LIRR passenger service barring the Port Washington Branch operates through here, with it being common for commuters to "Change at Jamaica" between trains to travel between points on Long Island and the four New York City terminals.

  1. ^ Long Island Rail Road (May 14, 2012). "TIMETABLE No. 4" (PDF). p. VI. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
  2. ^ "2017 RIDERSHIP BOOK" (PDF). Service Planning MTA Long Island Rail Road. 2018. p. 4. LIRR Weekday Peak/Off-Peak/Daily Customers 2008 - 2017 - East of Jamaica
  3. ^ "2012-2014 LIRR Origin and Destination Report : Volume I: Travel Behavior Among All LIRR Passengers" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. August 23, 2016. PDF pp. 15, 199. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 17, 2019. Retrieved March 29, 2020. Data collection took place after the pretest determinations, starting in September 2012 and concluding in May 2014. ... 2012-2014 LIRR O[rigin and ]D[estination] COUNTS: WEEKDAY East/West Total By Station in Numerical Order [includes Hillside Facility, Boland's Landing, Pinelawn, Mets-Willets Point, but excludes Belmont Park]
  4. ^ "Long Beach Branch Timetable". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved May 28, 2024.
  5. ^ "Far Rockaway Branch Timetable". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved May 28, 2024.
  6. ^ "Babylon Branch Timetable". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved May 28, 2024.
  7. ^ "Port Jefferson Branch". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved May 28, 2024.
  8. ^ "State-of-the-Art Computerized Centralized Signal and Switch Control System installed at busy Jamaica Station Complex". mta.info. MTA. November 7, 2011. Archived from the original on September 6, 2015. Retrieved June 16, 2015.