Beach 98th Street station

The Beach 98th Street station (signed as the Beach 98th Street–Playland station) is a station on the IND Rockaway Line of the New York City Subway. It is served by the Rockaway Park Shuttle at all times and ten daily rush-hour only A trains.

Beach 98 Street  ​
View of Rockaway Park-bound platform
Station statistics
Address	Beach 98th Street & Rockaway Freeway Queens, New York
Borough	Queens
Locale	Rockaway Beach
Coordinates	40.585441°N 73.820186°W / 40.585441; -73.820186
Division	B (IND, formerly LIRR Rockaway Beach Branch)[1]
Line	IND Rockaway Line
Services	A  (rush hours, peak direction) ​   S  (all times)
Transit	MTA Bus: Q22, Q53 SBS, QM16
Structure	Elevated
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	2
Other information
Opened	April 1903; 122 years ago (1903-04) (LIRR station)
Rebuilt	June 28, 1956; 69 years ago (1956-06-28) (as a Subway station)
Opposite- direction transfer	Yes
Former/other names	Steeplechase (1903–May 15, 1933[2]) Playland Beach 98th Street–Playland
Traffic
2024	99,833[3]  2.2%
Rank	421 out of 423[3]
Services Preceding station New York City Subway Following station Beach 105th Street A  ​S  toward Rockaway Park–Beach 116th Street Rockaway Park Beach 90th Street A  ​S  toward Broad Channel
Former services Preceding station Long Island Rail Road Following station Holland toward Woodside Rockaway Beach Division Seaside toward Rockaway Park Preceding station Brooklyn Rapid Transit Following station Holland toward Chambers Street Union Elevated Broadway Line 1898–1917 Seaside toward Rockaway Park Holland toward Park Row Union Elevated Fifth Avenue Line 1899–1905
Location Show map of New York City Subway Show map of New York City Show map of New York
Track layout Legend to Beach 90th Street to Beach 105th Street
Street map
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops all times Stops rush hours in the peak direction only

History

The station was originally built by the Long Island Rail Road in April 1903 as Steeplechase on the Rockaway Beach Branch, and was also a trolley stop of the Ocean Electric Railway. It was renamed Playland on May 15, 1933,^[2] for Rockaways' Playland, which was closed in 1985. No trace of the park remains other than the station name. The station was rebuilt as an elevated station, which opened on April 10, 1942.^[4] The station was purchased by New York City on October 3, 1955, along with the rest of the Rockaway Beach Branch and Far Rockaway Branch west of Far Rockaway, after a fire on the line's crossing over Jamaica Bay in 1950.^[5] Now operated by the New York City Transit Authority, it reopened as a subway station along the IND Rockaway Line on June 28, 1956.^[5][6]

Station layout

Platform level	Side platform
	Southbound	← toward Rockaway Park–Beach 116th Street (Beach 105th Street) ← PM rush toward Rockaway Park–Beach 116th Street (Beach 105th Street)
	Northbound	→ toward Broad Channel (Beach 90th Street) → → AM rush toward Inwood–207th Street (Beach 90th Street) →
	Side platform
Mezzanine		Fare control, station agent, MetroCard and OMNY vending machines
Ground	Street level	Entrances/exits

Eastern stairs

The station is built on a concrete viaduct. There are two tracks and two side platforms.^[7] The station is served by the Rockaway Park Shuttle at all times and limited A trains during rush hours in the peak direction (toward Manhattan in the morning and toward the Rockaways in the afternoon).^[8][9] It is between Beach 90th Street to the east (railroad north) and Beach 105th Street to the west (railroad south).^[10] New lights have been installed. Canopies, mezzanine, and side walls are similar to Beach 90th Street.

Exits

There is a crossunder to the tiled mezzanine. The southbound platform is longer than the northbound one, and had an exit at the north end of the Rockaway Park bound platform which has been removed. Outside of fare control, there are stairs to either eastern corner of Rockaway Freeway and Beach 99th Street.^[11]