Babylon Branch

TheBabylon Branchis arail serviceoperated by theLong Island Rail Roadin theU.S. stateofNew York.The term refers to the trains servingMontauk Branchstations fromValley Streameast toBabylon;in other words, the Babylon Branch is a rail service rather than an actual track. Theelectrificationof the Montauk Branch ends east of the Babylon station, so the Babylon Branch is mostly served by electric trains.

Babylon Branch
Babylon Branch train #108 departs the Lynbrook station, bound forBabylon.
Overview
Status	Operational
Owner	Long Island Rail Road
Locale	NassauandSuffolk County,New York,USA
Termini	Valley Interlocking Babylon
Stations	14
Service
Type	Commuter rail
System	Long Island Rail Road
Services	Babylon Branch Montauk Branch West Hempstead Branch
Operator(s)	Metropolitan Transportation Authority
Ridership	11,606,943 (annual ridership, 2023)
History
Opened	1867 (as part of theSouthern Railroad of Long Island)
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft8+1⁄2in(1,435 mm)standard gauge
Electrification	Third rail,750 V DC
Route map Main Line toPenn Station,Grand Central,orLong Island City Atlantic Zone 1 Zone 3 9.0 mi 14.5 km Jamaica ​​​ Atlantic Branch viaLaurelton Main Line toGreenport&Central Branch 11.8 mi 19 km St. Albans Queens Nassau Zone 3 Zone 4 16.1 mi 25.9 km Valley Stream Far Rockaway West Hempstead 17.7 mi 28.5 km Lynbrook Long Beach Zone 4 Zone 7 19.3 mi 31.1 km Rockville Centre 21.3 mi 34.3 km Baldwin 22.6 mi 36.4 km Freeport 24.3 mi 39.1 km Merrick 25.4 mi 40.9 km Bellmore 26.5 mi 42.6 km Wantagh 27.7 mi 44.6 km Seaford 28.6 mi 46 km Massapequa 29.4 mi 47.3 km Massapequa Park Nassau Suffolk Zone 7 Zone 9 31.3 mi 50.4 km Amityville 32.4 mi 52.1 km Copiague 33.7 mi 54.2 km Lindenhurst MontaukviaCentral Branch 36.6 mi 58.9 km Babylon Montauk Distances shown fromLong Island Cityvia theLower Montauk Branch

The west end of the "Babylon Branch" is the junction between theWest Hempstead Branchand Montauk Branch (Valley Interlocking);St. Albans,the only stop on the Montauk Branch west ofValley Stream,is serviced only byWest Hempstead Branchtrains. Some Montauk Branch trains operate nonstop through Babylon Branch stations until reaching Babylon, though others use theCentral Branchbetween Belmont Junction west of Babylon station and a junction atBeth Interlockingon theMain Linesoutheast ofBethpage Station,running toNew York Cityvia the Main Line.On weekends, Babylon Branch trains typically stop atForest HillsandKew Gardensin the eastbound direction as opposed to other Main Line trains that serve other branches.

The Babylon Branch portion of the Montauk Branch is completelygrade separatedwith bridges over all intersecting roadways.New York State Route 231and theMeadowbrook Parkwayare the two exceptions to this; the tracks pass under these roadways.

History

See also:Montauk Branch § History

Early history

Babylon station

Aerial view of(from bottom)theWantagh,Seaford,andMassapequastations along the Babylon Branch

TheSouth Side Railroad of Long Islandin the 1860s built what was to become the Montauk Branch of the Long Island Rail Road. The Babylon Branch as a separate operational entity began as the electrification of the Montauk Branch between Valley Stream and Babylon on May 20, 1925. Eventually, this would also include the former "Springfield Branch"which the Montauk Branch was relocated to northeast ofSpringfield Junction.

Grade-separation project

Color light signals on the Babylon line

The tracks were elevated from ground level between 1950 and 1980. Elevation of the line sparked grass-roots efforts to preserve the previous versions of Wantagh and Lindenhurst Stations, the former of which resulted in the creation of theWantagh Railroad Museum.The last station to be elevated on the branch wasMassapequa Parkon December 13, 1980.

On December 30, 1968, the first revenue train ofM1cars departed Babylon for Penn Station. In anticipation, all stations that were still at grade level had their platforms converted from low-level to high-level (an increase of 4 feet) from late-1967 to late-1968 in time for when the fleet went into service. Stations that were still at-grade at the time were Lindenhurst, Copiague, Amityville, Massapequa Park, Bellmore, and Merrick. The former three's grade separation projects had just gotten underway a few months prior, while Massapequa Park was still at-grade and the latter two were being prepared for their projects. All stations that had been elevated were equipped with single high-level island platforms, except for Babylon, which had two platforms. The call for high-level platforms was due to the M1 lacking steps that the fleet they were replacing had, and to make travel times quicker by several minutes.

Work on grade separation began in 1970. The stretch of track between Amityville and Lindenhurst was grade-separated, with new high-level platforms on elevated viaducts, on August 7, 1973.At the same time, the stretch of track through Bellmore and Merrick was grade-separated, which was completed on June 28, 1975.

In 1977, work began on the $29.5 million project to elevate the line through Massapequa Park to eliminate the three remaining grade crossings. As part of the project, the platform at Massapequa was lengthened to accommodate twelve-car trains, meaning all stations on the branch could accommodate at least ten cars. The platform extension was completed in January 1980.This grade-separation project was completed on December 13, 1980.

In October 1986, work began to extend the platform at Baldwin from being ten cars long to being twelve-cars long. As part of the project, a temporary wooden platform at the station's eastern end would be demolished and replaced by a 300 foot (91 m)-long concrete slab. Work was expected to be completed in three months. Platform extensions had already been completed at Rockville Centre, Freeport, Merrick, and Wantagh.

Station renovations

Since the 1990s, many station houses along the branch have been rebuilt, including the entire platforms at Seaford from July 2008 to July 2009, Massapequa from late 2013 to mid-2015, and Wantagh from late 2016 to late 2018. Additionally, from July 2007 to April 10, 2011, the signals, switches, and gantries were replaced between Wantagh and Amityville, with color light signals replacing the old position-light signals installed during the elevation of that section in 1973.

Apocket trackwas built east of the Massapequa station between the two tracks. This was to be completed by Spring 2016, but was pushed back to April 2019.

Plans for the future include the modernization of Babylon Interlocking, viaduct track replacement at certain stations, replacement of platforms, escalators, and elevators at Babylon. In November 2022, the MTA announced that intends to install elevators at Massapequa Park, Amityville, Copiague, and Lindenhurst stations and thus make them ADA accessible;these are the only four stations on the branch that are not currently ADA accessible.

Stations

West ofLynbrook,most trips go on to terminate atGrand CentralorPenn Station,with some trips ending atJamaicaorHunterspoint Avenue.

Zone	Location	Station	Miles (km) fromLong Island City	Date opened	Date closed	Connections / notes
3	St. Albans, Queens	St. Albans (limited service)	11.8 (19.0)	1898		New York City Bus:Q4
4	Lynbrook	Lynbrook (limited service)	17.7 (28.5)	1867		Long Island Rail Road:Long Beach Branch Nassau Inter-County Express:n4,n25,n31,n31x,n32 Originally named Pearsall's Corners, then Pearsall's
7	Rockville Centre	Rockville Centre	19.3 (31.1)	1867		Nassau Inter-County Express:n15,n16,n31x,Mercy Medical Shuttle
	Baldwin	Baldwin	21.3 (34.3)	1867		Nassau Inter-County Express:n35 Originally named Baldwinsville,then Baldwins
	Freeport	Freeport	22.6 (36.4)	1867		Nassau Inter-County Express:n4,n19,n19x,n40/41,n43,n88x
	Merrick	Merrick	24.3 (39.1)	1867
	Bellmore	Bellmore	25.4 (40.9)	1869
	Wantagh	Wantagh	26.5 (42.6)	1867		Originally named Ridgewood
	Seaford	Seaford	27.7 (44.6)	1899		Nassau Inter-County Express:n54
	Massapequa	Massapequa	28.6 (46.0)	1867		Nassau Inter-County Express:n54,n55,n80 Originally named South Oyster Bay
	Massapequa Park	Massapequa Park	29.4 (47.3)	1933		Nassau Inter-County Express:n54,n55,n80
	East Massapequa	Unqua		1880	1881
9	Amityville	Amityville	31.3 (50.4)	1868		Nassau Inter-County Express:n54,n55,n71 Suffolk County Transit:1,2,4,10
	Copiague	Copiague	32.4 (52.1)	1902
		Belmont Junction		1875	1876
	Lindenhurst	Lindenhurst	33.7 (54.2)	1867		Suffolk County Transit:10 Originally named Wellwood, then Breslau
	Babylon	Babylon	36.6 (58.9)	1867		Long Island Rail Road:Montauk Branch Suffolk County Transit:2,3,5,10,15 Originally named Seaside

External links

Template:Attached KML/Babylon Branch

KML is not from Wikidata

Media related toBabylon Branch (Long Island Rail Road)at Wikimedia Commons

• world.nycsubway.org: Babylon Branch
• Babylon Branch (The LIRR Today)