| Port Jefferson Branch |
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| long island rail road | |
| transportation in nassau county, new york | |
| transportation in suffolk county, new york | |
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The Port Jefferson Branch is one of the busier branches of the LIRR, with frequent Electric service to Huntington , and Diesel service east of Huntington. ROUTE DESCRIPTION AND PLANS Port Jefferson Branch service in Nassau County begins when the Hempstead Branch separates from the Main Line at the Queens Interlocking in Bellerose . The line from Queens Interlocking to Huntington is electrified and double tracked. Electrification extends to a point east of Huntington before Greenlawn Station on a layup track for electric trains. The line east of that point is not electrified and has a single track with passing sidings at Greenlawn, east of Northport , Kings Park , Smithtown and Stony Brook . Stations on the electrified portion that have the heaviest traffic include Mineola , Hicksville , and Huntington . On the non-electrified portion, the heaviest traffic tends to be to the Stony Brook station where the State University Of New York At Stony Brook is located. There are occasional plans to electrify this line past Huntington, at least to has been suspended. In addition, A Third Main Line Track from Bellerose to Mineola has also been proposed in order to provide increased services. Most Port Jefferson electric trains operate the full route from Penn Station to Huntington. Supplemental service is provided on Ronkonkoma Branch trains to Mineola and Hicksville. Additional service to Mineola is provided by Oyster Bay Branch trains, and some Patchogue-bound Montauk Branch trains also stop at Mineola and Hicksville during the weekdays. During off-peak hours, including weekends, a diesel shuttle runs between either Hicksville or Huntington and Port Jefferson. During rush hours, there are specialized services to and from stations west of, and including, Huntington Station. These services provide for express service, through service to Flatbush Avenue , and service to Penn Station that bypasses Jamaica . Also, east-of-Huntington service is extended to Jamaica, Hunterspoint Avenue , Long Island City , or Penn Station. HISTORY The line from Hicksville to Syosset opened in 1854. The LIRR later planned to extend to Cold Spring Harbor , but Oliver Charlick , the LIRR's president, disagreed over the station's location, so Charlick abandoned the grade and relocated the extension south of Cold Spring, refusing to add a station stop near Cold Spring for years. Another argument at Huntington led to the line bypassing the town two miles to the south, though a station was built. The line was extended from Syosset past Huntington to Northport in 1868,, June 2004 Edition and in 1873 the Smithtown and Port Jefferson Railroad opened from a mile south of Northport to Port Jefferson ,, February 2005 Edition turning the old line into Northport into the Northport Branch , the result of another argument between Charlick and Northport.Ron Ziel and George H. Foster, Steel Rails to the Sunrise, ©1965 The Port Jefferson Branch formerly extended to Wading River , and was once slated to continue eastward and rejoin the Main Line at Riverhead . The line east of Port Jefferson was abandoned in 1938. The right-of-way is now used for the Long Island Power Authority 's power lines. STATION LISTING REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS |
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