Babylon station

Babylon
Suffolk County Transit's former S27 bus leaves Babylon station
General information
Location	Railroad Avenue & Deer Park Avenue Babylon, New York
Coordinates	40°42′02″N73°19′27″W / 40.700614°N 73.32421°W / 40.700614; -73.32421
Owned by	Long Island Rail Road
Line(s)	Montauk Branch
Platforms	2 island platforms
Tracks	3
Connections	Suffolk County Transit : 2, 3, 5, 10, 15 (15 summer only) Adirondack Trailways
Construction
Parking	Yes (village permit and metered)
Bicycle facilities	Yes
Accessible	Yes
Other information
Fare zone	9
History
Opened	October 28, 1867 (SSRRLI) [1]
Rebuilt	1881, 1964
Electrified	May 21, 1925 750 V (DC) third rail
Previous names	Seaside (July 1868–1869) [1]
Passengers
2012—2014	13,366 [2]
Rank	7 of 125
Services
Preceding station Long Island Rail Road Following station Jamaica toward Penn Station or Long Island City Montauk Branch Bay Shore toward Montauk Hicksville limited service toward Penn Station or Long Island City Lindenhurst toward Penn Station, Grand Central or Atlantic Terminal Babylon Branch Terminus
Former services Preceding station Long Island Rail Road Following station Lindenhurst toward Long Island City Montauk Division Bay Shore toward Montauk South Farmingdale toward Bethpage Central Branch Terminus

The Babylon station is a station on the Long Island Rail Road in the village of Babylon, New York at Railroad Avenue west of Deer Park Avenue (Suffolk CR 34). It is on the Montauk Branch and is the eastern terminus of the Babylon Branch service. To the west is the junction (Belmont Junction) with the Central Branch, which heads northwest to join the Main Line at Bethpage Interlocking southeast of the Bethpage station. Babylon station is elevated with two island platforms and is wheelchair accessible through elevator access. The electrified portion of the Montauk Branch ends east of the station.

History

The station at dusk in September 2016

Babylon Yard, east of the station

Babylon station originally opened as a South Side Railroad of Long Island depot on October 28, 1867. It was briefly renamed Seaside station in the summer of 1868, but resumed its original name of Babylon station in 1869. The Central Railroad of Long Island had once planned an extension to the Great South Bay and Fire Island which was never built, and a horse car and later trolley line was provided by the Babylon Rail Road company as a substitute. ^[3] The CRRLI abandoned their own depot in 187, and began to share it with SSRLI. From that point on the original SSRLI depot contained the name "Babylon & Fire Island" posted on one side. ^[4] The second depot opened on July 2, 1881, and contained three tracks with two low-level side platforms and two high island platforms, as well as a pedestrian bridge and a REA Express freight house. ^[5] Electrification came to the station in May 1925. The station became the terminus of the newly established Babylon Branch. It was razed in 1963 as part of the grade elimination project that was taking place along the entire Babylon Branch during the post-war era. ^[6] The new elevated third station opened on September 9, 1964.

East of the station, a train washing canopy existed in West Islip until 2005. ^{[7] [8]} In June 2010, the Long Island Rail Road broke ground on a new environmentally friendly train wash canopy, since Ronkonkoma station had the only train wash on the east end. This new train wash can recycle water using filters and is capable of washing up to 180 electric multiple unit cars a day.

As budgeted in the 2008–2013 Capital Plan, station rehabilitation over the next five years will include the demolition of the existing platforms and design and construction of a new platform as well as replacement of platform waiting rooms, escalators, and elevators. The project is projected to cost $39 million and will replace infrastructure that has existed since 1964. ^{[9] [ needs update ]}

Station layout

The station has two 12-car-long high-level island platforms.

The station platforms in March 2019

P Platform level	Track 1	←       Babylon Branch toward Grand Central Madison, Atlantic Terminal, or Penn Station (Lindenhurst) ←       Montauk Branch toward Long Island City or Penn Station (Hicksville or Jamaica)
	Platform A, island platform
	Track 2	←       Babylon Branch toward Grand Central Madison, Atlantic Terminal, or Penn Station (Lindenhurst) ←       Montauk Branch toward Long Island City or Penn Station (Hicksville or Jamaica)
	Platform B, island platform
	Track 3	←      Montauk Branch toward Patchogue, Speonk, or Montauk (Bay Shore) → ←      Babylon Branch termination track →
G	Ground level	Exit/entrance, parking, buses

References

1. Vincent F. Seyfried, The Long Island Rail Road: A Comprehensive History, Part One: South Side R.R. of L.I., 1961
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. "BY RAIL TO FIRE ISLAND". arrts-arrchives.com.
4. "SSRR BABYLON STATION". arrts-arrchives.com.
5. "LIRR Babylon". trainsarefun.com.
6. Morrison, David D.; Pakaluk, Valerie (2003). Long Island Rail Road Stations. Images of Rail. Chicago: Arcadia Publishing. pp. 90–91. ISBN   0-7385-1180-3 . Retrieved November 25, 2011.
7. Two mid-1980s views of West Islip...
8. ...train wash racks
9. 2008-2013 Capital Plan. Page 69

External links

• Babylon – LIRR
• Babylon LIRR timetable
• The Unofficial LIRR History Website
  • 1941 Postcard ^[usurped] , 1954 ^[usurped] and March 2000 Photos ^[usurped]
• BABYLON Interlocking (The LIRR Today)
• Station from Google Maps Street View
• Platforms from Google Maps Street View
• Waiting Room from Google Maps Street View