Port Washington Branch

Route map:
Port Washington Branch
Port Washington Branch train enters the Plandome station.
Overview
StatusOperational
OwnerLong Island Rail Road
LocaleQueens and Nassau County, New York, USA
Termini
  • Woodside
  • Port Washington
Stations13
Service
TypeCommuter rail
SystemLong Island Rail Road
Services
Operator(s)Metropolitan Transportation Authority
Daily ridership46,808 (average weekday, 2006)
Ridership8,321,271 (annual ridership, 2022)
History
Opened1854 (as Flushing Railroad)
Technical
Track gauge4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm)
Electrification750 V (DC) Third rail
Route map
Map
Legend
0.0 mi
0 km
Penn Station
NJ Transit Amtrak
Grand Central
3.7 mi
1.8 mi
3.1 mi
5 km
Woodside
"7" train"7" express train
Elmhurst (closed)
Corona (closed)
West Flushing (closed)
6.7 mi
10.8 km
Mets–Willets Point
"7" train"7" express train
Zone 1
Zone 3
7.5 mi
12.1 km
Flushing–Main Street
"7" train"7" express train
8.4 mi
13.5 km
Murray Hill
9.2 mi
14.8 km
Broadway
9.9 mi
15.9 km
Auburndale
10.8 mi
17.4 km
Bayside
12.1 mi
19.5 km
Douglaston
12.7 mi
20.4 km
Little Neck
Zone 3
Zone 4
13.8 mi
22.2 km
Great Neck
15.4 mi
24.8 km
Manhasset
16.5 mi
26.6 km
Plandome
18.1 mi
29.1 km
Port Washington

The Port Washington Branch is an electrified, mostly double-tracked rail line and service owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in New York, in the United States. It branches north from the Main Line at the former Winfield Junction station, just east of the Woodside station in the New York City borough of Queens, and runs roughly parallel to Northern Boulevard past Mets-Willets Point (Citi Field), Flushing, Murray Hill, Broadway, Auburndale, Bayside, Douglaston, Little Neck, and then crosses into Nassau County for stops in Great Neck, Manhasset, and Plandome before terminating at Port Washington.

The Port Washington Branch is the only LIRR branch to not serve Jamaica, a major LIRR transportation hub, as it branches off the Main Line at Winfield Junction, several miles northwest of Jamaica. Thus, passengers seeking to switch to other LIRR services without going into Manhattan must instead transfer at Woodside station.

Route description

The Port Washington station from the corner of Main Street and Haven Avenue in Port Washington.
Winfield Junction
Manhasset Viaduct, viewed from East Shore Road
Manhasset Viaduct, viewed from below

The line has two tracks from Woodside to Great Neck and one track from east of Great Neck past Manhasset and Plandome stations to Port Washington. This often causes slight delays during two-way rush hour operations. A second track cannot be added through Manhasset and Plandome due to the proximity of businesses to the narrow right-of-way in Manhasset, and the fact that the Manhasset Viaduct, which carries the line between Great Neck and Manhasset, has only one track.

To reduce delays and provide consistent service along all portions of the line, most peak-hour trains are either local between Manhattan and Great Neck (making all stops) or express between Manhattan and Port Washington (making stops only at Bayside, Great Neck, Manhasset, Plandome station, and Port Washington, although several trains run nonstop between city terminals and Great Neck).

Extra service is offered during the U.S. Open tennis tournament and for New York Mets home games, both of which are held in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park. These trains primarily pick up and discharge passengers at the Mets–Willets Point station between Woodside and Flushing Main Street; formerly a station used exclusively for events, Mets–Willets Point has been open full-time since April 2023.

The route also runs over the Manhasset Viaduct, a high train trestle over the marshes at the southern end of Manhasset Bay. The bridge stands 81 feet (25 m) tall and runs 678 feet (207 m) across the bay, offering a view of the Manhasset Bay. Scenes from the Hearst-produced silent film serial "The Perils of Pauline" are said to have been shot on the trestle.

There is only one grade crossing on the Port Washington Branch, located at Little Neck Parkway, at the west end of the Little Neck Station.

History

19th century

The Port Washington Branch was built by the Flushing Railroad, in 1854 from Hunters Point in Long Island City to Flushing, before the LIRR opened its line to Long Island City. It was the first non-LIRR line on Long Island. The company was reorganized in 1859 as the New York and Flushing Railroad, and established a subsidiary known as the North Shore Railroad to extend the line from Flushing to Great Neck in 1866.

Originally intending to run further east to Roslyn, Oyster Bay, and even Huntington, the NY&F's plans were thwarted by the LIRR who reached those destinations first, as well as poor service and competition with the 1868-established Flushing and North Side Railroad. In 1869, the New York State Legislature authorized the Flushing and North Side to buy the New York and Flushing east of the LIRR crossing at Winfield Station, while the segment between Hunters Point and Winfield was acquired by the South Side Railroad of Long Island until it was abandoned for passenger service east of what was to become the former Laurel Hill Station in 1875. Part of the right-of-way ran through what is today the Mount Zion Jewish Cemetery in Maspeth.

By 1874, all branches of the Flushing and North Side Railroad, including the Main Line to Great Neck were incorporated into the Flushing, North Shore and Central Railroad, which included the Central Railroad of Long Island. Two years later, it would become part of the Long Island Rail Road, which closed the line east of Flushing in 1881 and reopened it a year later as subsidiary known as the Long Island City and Flushing Railroad. The LIC&F was merged with the LIRR on April 2, 1889.

Despite a failed attempt to extend the line from Great Neck to Roslyn in 1882, wealthy Port Washington residents persuaded the LIRR to bring the terminus to their hometown in 1895. This required the construction of the Manhasset Viaduct over the marshes at the southern end of Manhasset Bay, which was authorized by an LIRR subsidiary called the Great Neck and Port Washington Railroad (GN&PW). According to Manhasset's website, "in 1897, a contract was given to the Carnegie Steel Company and a subsidiary, the King Iron Company, undertook the job of constructing the bridge." The trestle bridge cost about $60,000, and the first train to cross it was on June 23, 1898. The GN&PW was disestablished as a subsidiary in 1902, and that segment simply became part of the Port Washington Branch.

20th century

Two other early 20th-century stations built on the Port Washington Branch were in Auburndale (1901) and Plandome (1909). The branch was electrified from the main line to Winfield Junction by June 23, 1910, to Whitestone Junction onto the Whitestone Branch to Whitestone Landing Station by October 22, 1912, and to its terminus in Port Washington by October 21, 1913. In 1910, the Public Service Commission approved the LIRR's application to eliminate grade crossings along the line. These projects were prerequisites for the extension of the line's second track to Great Neck and Whitestone and the electrification of the line.: 21–22 

Grade crossing elimination projects took place during the 1910s and 1920s in Queens and Nassau County. These grade elimination projects included unique station reconstruction in places such as Murray Hill which had a station house built over the tracks and Great Neck which had an elaborate plaza built around it. In 1929, the station at Winfield Junction was eliminated, making Woodside Station the transfer point between Main Line and Port Washington Branch trains.

Despite the elimination of the Whitestone Branch in 1932, as well as Flushing Bridge Street station, Flushing station kept the name "Flushing-Main Street Station." A new station was built just in time for the 1939 New York World's Fair then reused for the United Nations, and then the 1964 New York World's Fair and simultaneously Shea Stadium, for which it would be renamed in 1966. This was the last station to be built on the line. By 1985, when Elmhurst station closed, Shea Stadium station would also become the westernmost station on the Port Washington Branch before the junction with the Main Line.

In January 1987, the station building at the Plandome station was burned to the ground by vandals. Following the fire, the station building was rebuilt as a more modern version of the original.

21st century

In conjunction with the East Side Access project, the MTA is working on two readiness projects that will increase capacity on the Port Washington Branch. The pocket track east of Great Neck station, located between the station and where the line becomes single-tracked, is being extended eastward by 1,200 feet (370 m) so it can store two trainsets. The construction of the pocket track was originally scheduled for completion in December 2018 at a total cost of $45.2 million. However, the completion date was pushed back several times;: 60  as of November 2021, a tentative completion date of August 2022 was announced,: 59  though construction is still underway as of November 2022 and is now expected to be complete by the end of the month. Additionally, the Port Washington Yard, next to Port Washington station, was planned to be expanded to store two more ten-car trains. As of 2017, construction was scheduled to begin in late 2020 or early 2021 at a cost of $500,000. However, this project met significant community opposition, primarily because of proposed reduction of parking spaces near the station. As of September 2022, the MTA has not come to an agreement with the Town of North Hempstead,: 65  resulting in the project being postponed indefinitely.: 61 

Alongside these construction projects, a new bridge was built at Colonial Road near Great Neck station; it opened in May 2016 and replaced a 114-year-old span.

Stations

West of Woodside, all trips go on to terminate at Penn Station or Grand Central.

Zone Location Station name Miles (km)
from Long Island City
Date
opened
Date
closed
Connections and notes
1 Woodside, Queens Woodside Disabled access 3.1 (5.0) 1869 Long Island Rail Road: City Terminal Zone
New York City Subway: 7 and <7>​ (at 61st Street–Woodside)
New York City Bus: Q32
MTA Bus: Q18, Q53 SBS, Q70 SBS
Maspeth, Queens Winfield Junction 1854 1929
Elmhurst, Queens Elmhurst 1855 1985 Originally named Newtown
Corona, Queens
Corona 1853 1964 Originally named Fashion Race Course, then West Flushing
West Flushing 1854
Mets–Willets Point 6.7 (10.8) 1939 New York City Subway: 7 and <7>​ (at Mets–Willets Point)
New York City Bus: Q48
Originally named World's Fair, then United Nations, then World's Fair again, then Shea Stadium.
3 Flushing, Queens Flushing–Main Street Disabled access 7.5 (12.1) 1854 New York City Subway: 7 and <7>​ (at Flushing–Main Street)
New York City Bus: Q12, Q13, Q15, Q15A, Q16, Q17, Q20A, Q20B, Q26, Q27, Q28, Q44 SBS, Q48, Q58
MTA Bus: Q19, Q25, Q34, Q50, Q65, Q66
Nassau Inter-County Express: n20G, n20x
Originally named Flushing
Murray Hill Disabled access 8.4 (13.5) 1889 New York City Bus: Q12, Q15, Q15A
Nassau Inter-County Express: n20G, n20x
Broadway Disabled access 9.2 (14.8) 1866 New York City Bus: Q12, Q13, Q28
MTA Bus: QM3
Nassau Inter-County Express: n20G, n20x
Originally named Flushing–Broadway
Auburndale, Queens Auburndale Disabled access 9.9 (15.9) 1901 New York City Bus: Q12, Q13, Q28, Q76
MTA Bus: QM3
Nassau Inter-County Express: n20G, n20x
Bayside, Queens Bayside Disabled access 10.8 (17.4) 1886 New York City Bus: Q12, Q13, Q28
MTA Bus: QM3
Nassau Inter-County Express: n20G, n20x
Originally named Bay Side
Douglaston–Little Neck, Queens Douglaston Disabled access 12.1 (19.5) 1866 New York City Bus: Q12
MTA Bus: QM3
Nassau Inter-County Express: n20G, n20x
Originally named Little Neck
Little Neck Disabled access 12.7 (20.4) 1870 New York City Bus: Q12, Q36
MTA Bus: QM3
Nassau Inter-County Express: n20G, n20x
4 Great Neck Great Neck Disabled access 13.8 (22.2) 1866 Nassau Inter-County Express: n20G, n20H, n21, n25, n26, n57, n58
Originally named Brookdale
Manhasset Manhasset Disabled access 15.4 (24.8) 1899 Nassau Inter-County Express: n20H, n21, n20x
Plandome Plandome Disabled access 16.5 (26.6) 1909
Port Washington Port Washington Disabled access 18.1 (29.1) 1898 Nassau Inter-County Express: n23

This page was last updated at 2024-01-14 20:00 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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