Rockville Centre station

Last updated

Rockville Centre
Rockville Centre LIRR Station; Main Entrance.JPG
The main entrance of Rockville Centre station along Front Street
General information
LocationNorth Village Avenue & Front Street
Rockville Centre, New York
Coordinates 40°39′30″N73°38′48″W / 40.6583°N 73.6466°W / 40.6583; -73.6466
Owned by Long Island Rail Road
Line(s) Montauk Branch
Distance19.3 mi (31.1 km) from Long Island City [1]
Platforms1 island platform
Tracks2
ConnectionsAiga bus trans.svg Nassau Inter-County Express : n4, n15, n16, n31x, Mercy Medical Shuttle
Construction
ParkingYes
Bicycle facilitiesYes
AccessibleYes
Other information
Fare zone7
History
Opened1867;157 years ago (1867) (SSRRLI)
Rebuilt1881, 1901, 1950
ElectrifiedMay 20, 1925
750 V (DC) third rail
Passengers
2012—20147,530 [2]
Rank12 of 125
Services
Preceding station MTA NYC logo.svg Long Island Rail Road Following station
Lynbrook
toward Penn Station, Grand Central or Atlantic Terminal
Babylon Branch Baldwin
toward Babylon
      Montauk Branch does not stop here
Former services
Preceding station Long Island
Rail Road 		Following station
Lynbrook
toward Long Island City
Montauk Division Baldwin
toward Montauk
Location
Rockville Centre station

The Rockville Centre station is a station along the Babylon Branch of the Long Island Rail Road. It is officially at North Village Avenue and Front Street north of Sunrise Highway in Rockville Centre, New York, but the station property spreads west to North Center Avenue and east to North Park Avenue. Parking is available throughout the Village of Rockville Centre, near the station for those with residential and non-residential permits. The station is east of the former Rockville Centre Bus Depot. The station is 21.1 miles (34.0 km) from Penn Station. [3]

Contents

History

Early history

Rockville Centre LIRR Station; Molloy College Sign (modified).JPG
A sign on the station's platform
Rockville Centre LIRR Station; West to Valley Stream and Jamaica.JPG
The exposed, western end of the station's platform

Rockville Centre station was originally built by the South Side Railroad of Long Island on September 23, 1867 and remodeled in July 1881. [4] : 25  The station was rebuilt in 1901; the new depot opened on October 14 of that year. [5] The original station was moved to a private location that year and razed in 2004. [6]

Grade crossing elimination project

The second station was razed in 1949, as the first major phase of a project to elevate the Babylon Branch and eliminate its level crossings was completed. A temporary station was built southeast of the former location and began operation on April 19, 1949. [7]

Rockville Centre station was the site of a major railroad accident on February 17, 1950 that resulted in the deaths of 32 people, and serious injury of over 100 people. [8] This occurred nine months before a similar accident in Kew Gardens, Queens that killed 79 people, and injured hundreds more. The current elevated structure was opened on July 17–18, 1950. [9]

Station renovation

On August 2, 1982, work began on a $1.2 million project to extend the platform from 800 to 1,000 feet (240 to 300 m) to accommodate 12-car trains. The concrete platform at the station would be completely replaced. [10] The project was to be done in multiple phases, and was scheduled to be completed in October 1983. [11] As part of the project, the bathrooms and waiting room at the station were repainted, the stairway to the west of the lower level waiting room was replaced, and a new stairway would be built at the far western end of the platform. In addition, an elevator was to be constructed at the station. In August 1983, the LIRR awarded the contract to construct the new stairway. A dedication ceremony for the project took place on January 25, 1984. At that time, the elevator was slated to be completed in spring 1984. [12] [13]

In March 1985, the contract for the new stairway was cancelled since the manufacturer did not provide any design drawings. The contract was rebid and was awarded again in August 1985, with an estimated cost of $30,000. At the same time, the only existing staircase at the western end of the station had been removed, and would not be replaced until October 1985. Since the LIRR was unable to reduce the six-to-seven-month time period needed to fabricated the stairs, it was not able to get them installed by November 1985, and set a new completion date of February 1, 1986. In January 1986, work began on the installation of the new western stairway, but stopped after two days as the LIRR said the manufacturer made measurement mistakes. Work resumed later that month, and was expected to be completed by the end of the month. [13]

Station layout

The station has one 12-car-long high-level island platform between the two tracks.

Though some scenes from the 2004 movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind took place at Rockville Centre station, they were actually shot at Mount Vernon East station on the Metro-North Railroad New Haven Line. [14]

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References

  1. ↑ Long Island Rail Road (May 14, 2012). "TIMETABLE No. 4" (PDF). p. IV. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
  2. ↑ "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, 197. 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
  3. ↑ Official MTA-LIRR Rockville Centre Station
  4. ↑ Morrison, David D. (2021). Long Island Rail Road: Babylon Branch. Arcadia Publishing Incorporated. ISBN   9781439671894 . Retrieved June 5, 2024.
  5. ↑ "Rockville Centre's New Depot". Times Union. October 14, 1901. p. 9. Retrieved June 5, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ Old Rockville Centre Station photos (Arrt's Arrchives)
  7. ↑ "RVC Rail Switch Over Ceremonies Tomorrow". Newsday. April 18, 1949. p. 21. Retrieved June 5, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ Long Island Rail Road Wrecks
  9. ↑ LIRR Grade Crossing Elimination Projects (TraisnAreFun.com)
  10. ↑ "LIRR station project". New York Daily News. August 2, 1982. Retrieved July 15, 2021.
  11. ↑ "Project by LIRR to Begin". Newsday. Hempstead, New York. August 2, 1982. Retrieved July 15, 2021.
  12. ↑ Ain, Stewart (January 26, 1984). "LIRR praises 20-acre offer". New York Daily News. Retrieved July 15, 2021.
  13. 1 2 Bleyer, Bill (January 21, 1986). "Work Resumes on Delayed Rail Stairway". Newsday. Hempstead, New York. Retrieved July 15, 2021.
  14. ↑ "Site about the film". Archived from the original on March 9, 2012.

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