Babylon station
Babylon | ||||||||||||||||||||
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 Suffolk County Transit's S27 bus leaves Babylon station | ||||||||||||||||||||
| General information | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Railroad Avenue & Deer Park Avenue Babylon, New York | |||||||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 40°42′02″N 73°19′27″W / 40.700614°N 73.32421°W | |||||||||||||||||||
| Owned by | Long Island Rail Road | |||||||||||||||||||
| Line(s) | Montauk Branch | |||||||||||||||||||
| Platforms | 2 island platforms | |||||||||||||||||||
| Tracks | 3 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Connections |  Suffolk County Transit: S20, S23, S25, S27, S29, S40, S42, S47 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 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Babylon 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. Babylon is 38.9 miles from Penn Station (in Manhattan, New York City), and travel time is 50 minutes to 1 hour 16 minutes, depending on the number of stops.
History
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 1874, 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, and 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 is able to recycle water already used using filters and is capable of washing up to 180 electric multiple unit cars a day (equivalent to 15 twelve-car trains, 18 ten-car trains, about 22 eight-car trains, or 30 six-car trains.)
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]
Station layout
The station has two 12-car-long high-level island platforms.
_-_March_2019.jpg)
| P Platform level |
Track 1 | ← Babylon Branch toward Jamaica, Atlantic Terminal, or Penn Station (Lindenhurst) ← Montauk Branch toward Jamaica, Long Island City, or Penn Station (Hicksville or Jamaica) |
Platform A, island platform 
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| Track 2 | ← Babylon Branch toward Jamaica, Atlantic Terminal, or Penn Station (Lindenhurst) ← Montauk Branch toward Jamaica, Long Island City, or Penn Station (Hicksville or Jamaica) | |
| Platform B, island platform
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| Track 3 | Montauk Branch toward Patchogue, Speonk, or Montauk (Bay Shore) → Babylon Branch termination track → | |
| G | Ground level | Exit/entrance, parking, buses |
References
- ^ a b Vincent F. Seyfried, The Long Island Rail Road: A Comprehensive History, Part One: South Side R.R. of L.I., 1961
- ^ "2012-2014 LIRR Origin and Destination Report : Volume I: Travel Behavior Among All LIRR Passengers" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 23 August 2016. PDF pp. 15, 197. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 July 2019. Retrieved 29 March 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
- ^ "BY RAIL TO FIRE ISLAND". arrts-arrchives.com.
- ^ "SSRR BABYLON STATION". arrts-arrchives.com.
- ^ "LIRR Babylon". trainsarefun.com.
- ^ 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 2011-11-25.
- ^ Two mid-1980s views of West Islip...
- ^ ...train wash racks
- ^ 2008-2013 Capital Plan. Page 69
External links
