City Terminal Zone

The City Terminal Zone is the set of Long Island Rail Road lines within New York City west of Jamaica station, except the Port Washington Branch.

City Terminal Zone
Westbound view of the line at the Borden Avenue grade crossing, looking west towards Long Island City.
Overview
Status	Operational
Owner	Long Island Rail Road
Locale	Long Island, New York, United States
Termini	Western termini: Atlantic Terminal Hunterspoint Avenue Long Island City Penn Station Grand Central Madison Eastern termini: Woodside (Port Washington Branch) Jamaica (all other lines)
Stations	12 (11 passenger, 1 employees-only) 1 future station
Service
Type	Commuter rail
System	Long Island Rail Road
Services	City Terminal Zone   Belmont Park Branch   Babylon Branch   Far Rockaway Branch   Hempstead Branch   Long Beach Branch   Montauk Branch   Oyster Bay Branch   Port Jefferson Branch   Port Washington Branch   Ronkonkoma Branch   West Hempstead Branch
Operator(s)	Long Island Rail Road
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Electrification	Third rail, 750 V DC (electrified portions)
Route map Northeast Corridor to Philadelphia / Washington Empire Corridor to Albany–Rensselaer Metro-North Railroad Grand Central Terminal Penn Station Grand Central Madison ​​​​ ​​​​​ East River ​ Long Island City ​ Hunterspoint Avenue East Side Access   Atlantic Terminal Northeast Corridor to New Haven / Boston ​​​​​​​ ​ Nostrand Avenue Woodside ​ ​​​​ East New York Port Washington Branch to Port Washington Forest Hills ​​​ Kew Gardens Jamaica ​​​ Atlantic Branch Main Line  Montauk Branch   All other LIRR branches diverge from these main routes This diagram: view talk edit

Routes

Current routes

There are four routes that are part of the City Terminal Zone:^[1]

• New York Penn Station (NYP) – Trains that, from Jamaica, travel west along the Main Line to Penn Station in Manhattan via the East River Tunnels.
• Grand Central Madison (GCM) – Trains that travel along the Main Line to Grand Central Madison via East Side Access, which includes the lower level of the 63rd Street Tunnel and a new tunnel under Park Avenue.^[2] Due to clearance restrictions in the tunnel, the C3 bilevel cars cannot access the terminal.^[2]
• Atlantic Terminal (AT) – Trains that travel along the Atlantic Branch to Brooklyn.
• Long Island City (LIC) – Trains that serve Hunterspoint Avenue and Long Island City in Queens. These trains also use the Main Line west of Jamaica, but typically skip Woodside, Forest Hills, and Kew Gardens. This route is served only during weekday rush hours in the peak direction (to Long Island City in the morning, from Long Island City in the afternoon).

Former routes

The City Terminal Zone formerly included the Lower Montauk Branch from Long Island City to Jamaica until passenger service on that route was discontinued in November 2012. This line formerly included Penny Bridge, Haberman, Fresh Pond, Glendale, and Richmond Hill stations until they were closed in March 1998.^[3]

Stations

East of Jamaica, trains continue in Long Island on the Main Line (Hempstead, Oyster Bay, Port Jefferson, Ronkonkoma), Atlantic Branch (Far Rockaway and Long Beach), and Montauk Branch (West Hempstead, Babylon, Montauk).

The Atlantic Terminal, Nostrand Avenue, and East New York stations are primarily served by a shuttle running between Atlantic Terminal and Jamaica. These stations are also served by select trains on the West Hempstead Branch on weekdays only, and a limited number of weekday peak trains from the Hempstead and Babylon branches. Other trains traveling east of Jamaica only run to Penn Station, Grand Central Madison, or Long Island City.^[4][5]

Zone	Routes				Location	Station	Connections and notes
	NYP	GCM	AT	LIC
1	■				Midtown Manhattan	Pennsylvania Station	Amtrak (long-distance): Cardinal, Crescent, Lake Shore Limited, Palmetto, Silver Meteor Amtrak (intercity): Acela, Adirondack, Carolinian, Empire Service, Ethan Allen Express, Keystone Service, Maple Leaf, Northeast Regional, Pennsylvanian, Vermonter NJ Transit Rail: ■ Gladstone Branch, ■ Montclair–Boonton Line, ■ Morristown Line, ■ Northeast Corridor Line, ■ North Jersey Coast Line, ■ Raritan Valley Line NYC Subway: ​​​​ NYCT Bus
		■				Grand Central Madison	Metro-North Railroad: ■ Harlem Line, ■ Hudson Line, ■ New Haven Line NYC Subway: ​​​​​
				■	Long Island City, Queens	Long Island City	NYC Subway: ​ MTA Bus NYC Ferry: East River
				■		Hunterspoint Avenue	New York City Subway: ​ MTA Bus, NYCT Bus
	■	■			Woodside, Queens	Woodside	Long Island Rail Road: ■ Port Washington Branch NYC Subway: ​ MTA Bus, NYCT Bus
	■	■			Forest Hills, Queens	Forest Hills	NYC Subway: ​​​ MTA Bus
	■	■			Kew Gardens, Queens	Kew Gardens	MTA Bus, NYCT Bus
			■		Downtown Brooklyn	Atlantic Terminal	NYC Subway: ​​​​​​​​​ NYCT Bus
			■		Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn	Nostrand Avenue	New York City Subway: ​ NYCT Bus
			■		East New York, Brooklyn	East New York	New York City Subway: ​​​​ NYCT Bus
			■		Richmond Hill, Queens	Boland's Landing	Employees only
3	■	■	■	■	Jamaica, Queens	Jamaica	Long Island Rail Road: ■ Babylon Branch, ■ Far Rockaway Branch, ■ Hempstead Branch, ■ Long Beach Branch, ■ Montauk Branch, ■ Oyster Bay Branch, ■ Port Jefferson Branch, ■ Ronkonkoma Branch, ■ West Hempstead Branch NYC Subway: ​​​ MTA Bus, NYCT Bus, Nassau Inter-County Express AirTrain JFK: ■ Jamaica Train

Future stations

The MTA planned a new station in Sunnyside, Queens, once East Side Access was completed.^[6][7] The MTA later proposed in their 20-year needs assessment for 2025 to 2044 that Sunnyside station serve both the LIRR and the Metro-North Railroad, with the latter providing service to Penn Station after Penn Station Access is completed.^[8]

See also

• List of Long Island Rail Road stations