This video was fun to make, so let me know if I should make more like this. Thanks to the @NYCTA1 for giving me permission to use their footage. All credit goes toward them
Thanks for the memory. I took my old man to South Station , Boston one day. He was a WWII vet and loved the horses. 'Where we going?' On a train ride. Amtrak to LIRR to Belmont Park. He loved it and didn't know it was that simple (without driving).. Early 80's I'm guessing, but great time by all!
For at least the past few weeks, crews have been installing new track with concrete ties, and third rail along the East and west legs of the wye. This would suggest that the shutdown to Belmont Park is only temporary, and that service may actually be improved upon reopening.
A few corrections, the Elmont shuttle trains only started running because of main line weekend trains unable to stop at Elmont due to I-678 Overpass replacement, so they ran extra westbound shuttles to Jamaica, as the only westbound thru Jamaica trains that could run can only go to Brooklyn. These shuttles mainly originated out of Ronkonkoma yard, and the mta later started running these shuttles full time due to overcrowding, and some also come out of Hempstead yard as well. Belmont Park has been equipped with derail switches and currently have the wye tracks being torn out for either replacement or for abandonment, however the loss of Belmont Park station will be a disaster for the Belmont Stakes, as more than 10x the amount of people attend the Annual Races than Islander Games/Concerts at UBS. In 2014, there were 100k+ people that had attended the Belmont Stakes, with about 30%+ people having used the LIRR. Shuttle buses to/from Elmont to the arena and the park also increase emissions, and unnecessary operating costs, that could have been used somewhere else if Belmont Park would have still been used. Elmont is not a better station at all, because of its lack of service it can handle, and due to its location. If the branch is gone for good, then June 10th, 2023, will be a disaster for the LIRR.
I-678 is nowhere near Elmont or Belmont Park. I hate the idea of building Elmont station, because I knew it would lead to the destruction of the Belmont Park Branch.
My father took my family and I out there to Belmont Park and Racetrack for many years via the LIRR in the ‘70s and early ‘80s. Lots a great memories out there with the LIRR in Belmont, Roosevelt Racetrack in Long Island and the IND Subway in North Conduit- Queens Aqueduct Racetrack. Great Memories! Special Thanks for the upload!
I am from the Philadelphia, Pa area and have ridden the Long Island train to Belmont Park several times, especially on Belmont days since the track is usually full to capacity. This new change is a non starter for me. The old route dropped you off right at the door of the race track. Walking long distances from the new station or having to ride a shuttle bus makes the trip much more inconvenient. As much as I’m hate the traffic to get to Belmont Park, unless they return trains direct to the track I will drive rather than using the train. I am sure the same applies to the people wanting to go to the new arena also.
I’m with you 100%. The parking lot is huge and the cost is comparable. The extra cost for comfort and convenience is WELL WORTH IT. I used the elmont station and it was horrible. 20 minutes to walk to the station-so that’s a good mile walk. Then the train came up jammed packed from some dumb concert at MSG. Never again
They could cut off ties with the rest of the main line and use Belmont Park as an extension of the J/Z train over Jamaica Ave to Belmont Park or an extension of the Hillside Line (F) train to Belmont Park and utilize the space for a terminal and an extra yard capacity for the subway. This would have to be part of future plans and I can see it as a deemable solution for some Eastern extensions of the F, J/Z lines into much Eastern Parts of Queens where it is a desert!
Great video! I’m going to an event at UBS Arena in August and noticed the Belmont Park station extremely close when looking at the areal map. When looking up directions on Google on how to get there, no train seemed to stop at Belmont Park station even though I changed the times of departures etc. I thought it was very odd since Belmont Park station is so close to UBS Arena. This video cleared all of that up for me so thank you very much!
It's easy to see they had planned on having six continuous tracks from Jamaica to Floral Park - but first Hillside and then Elmont were formulated to block that. You can see how having the two southern tracks run as a separate two-directional line (essentially running the Hempstead Branch intact back to Jamaica) would simplify directional conflicts for accessing the arena/Belmont Park - and the stations to the east of Belmont were designed to minimize those conflicts. On the other hand, they went to great lengths to shore up and expand two giant bridges to accommodate that Elmont station, as an excuse to permanently box it in to a maximum four tracks. They will be running trains to Belmont Park in June for the Belmont Stakes, and intend to stop all service to Elmont and few other things using that as an excuse - which doesn't follow.
The way to do it correct might be rebuilding the station to 48 in high platforms 1.21m for Metric system users and add walkway to the UBS Arena since it's much closer than the current Elmont station since you need people to be bused from there to the arena.
On February 24, 2023, the LIRR eliminated shuttle services for special events at UBS Arena. This coincided with Elmont operating full time as part of the redevelopment of train schedules for East Side Access. This was announced by LIRR.
That sounds absolutely insane - the Belmont Park station is right beside the racetrack spectator building and connected to it directly, whereas from Elmont you'd have to walk all through the parking lot and around the side of the track. Hardly a great advertisement for using transit >_
@@grazz7865bro got weak legs. I just walked back to the train after the islanders. About 10 mins. You have a nice wide sidewalk just for you. Under a roof
The Elmont station is a white elephant. MTA should have spent the money on renovating the eastern leg of the Belmont wye instead of throwing away $105M on a station no one uses. NY Arena Partners, in their original proposal, estimated that about 25% to 30% of event attendees would arrive by train. The actual figure is less than 3%.....AND DROPPING. There is no reason that LIRR can't run at least one train from Penn and one from GCM directly to and from UBS. Why make people walk 20 minutes in the dead of winter (or wait 20 minutes for a bus) if they could get on a train 100 yards from the front door? Additionally, the Elmont station has no waiting rooms so instead of sitting in a comfortable warm train, riders are out on an open platform in the wind and cold. MTA totally screwed this up.
I think it has mostly to do with the lack of equipment right now. If you run a train to Belmont Park you're essentially just using that train just for Belmont Park. While Elmont on the other hand is directly on mainline. So you could just have it stop along it's normal route say to Ronkonkoma or Huntington. Thus saving equipment.
@@dogboy51w What you're saying makes sense. On the other hand, there are 6 tracks available and if all trains were filled and all tracks used, that would be a capacity of about 6,000/event. That's a lot of cars off the roadways and lot of people not being exposed to the wind and cold walking to that Emerald Lot or Elmont train station. Back in 2014 the MTA spent $5M upgrading Belmont Park station by replacing and extending the platforms to accommodate 10 car trains, What's the point of that if they aren't ever going to use it?
100% agreed. They have a fairly new station right next to the arena (Belmont) which was recently renovated. Elmont is nowhere near elmont. It’s actually in bellerose. So that means when you’re dropped off at “elmont “, you’re walking a mile from Jericho turnpike to Hempstead turnpike. The station has zero to do with helping the community. Elmont is spitting distance from queens village and bellerose. If you look at the schedule, it’s a whole 2 minutes running time between the stations. WAY too many stops now. On game days, they should have ran two shuttle trains between Belmont and Hicksville and two trains between Belmont and Jamaica.
Agreed all they needed to do was make the Hempstead line a shuttle to Belmont via floral park and have other people transfer at floral park no need to shuttle from Jamaica
The (J)/(Z) could extend to Belmont Park Station to connect the LIRR Elmont UBS ARENA plus the (J)/(Z) could continue on Jamaica Avenue Line in Queens. Sorry for the late comment.
the Elmont shuttle was literally just for one weekend, the MTA has not said that the BP station/branch is closing and it’s simply being reverted back to race day service as needed I have also yet to see a Port Jeff, or any bi-level diesel train, stop at Elmont either
oops made this comment in reply to another comment by mistake. you keep saying belmont "branch". the wye is a spur of the hempstead branch. it is not one of the 11 LIRR braches.
It may only be a spur but if operated properly for Belmont Park races and events at the arena it would serve as a valuable asset. As it stands now the money spent on the new station will be a big waste of money. People using public transit use it for connivence to get where they want to go. If it is not easy to use people will continue to drive their cars instead of taking the train. Obviously they need new people planning these projects. I bet most of those planners do not even ride the service and see how important it can be.
@@johnchambers8528 oh i agree with u elmont station was a total waste of $. specially aftrr putting in the high level platforms at belmont. $ would have been better spent rehabbing east leg of wye, remoting the switches in the belmont yard, and putting back the switch in queens interlocking allowing trains to/from east leg to go to from main line
From what I have heard, the current plan is to unfortunately tear down the Belmont park station and build a Hotel there due to the Outlets, UBS arena, and Belmont stakes. Very sad to me as I have spent many days and nights at the Belmont Park station.
They are not going to tear down Belmont Park station, not after spending $5M to upgrade the station and millions more just last year replacing both the west and east leg of the tracks approaching the station. The hotel will be on the other side of UBS, where the parking lots are located.
it should run trains for the islanders games to an once the trans hudson tunnels are fixed i they should go though to the medowlands for sports event asnd maybe eve onto the south cost line down the jersy coast line to sebre the races as momoth park. and end where they allready and tains and redbank.
I agree that they should run trains during Islanders games, but they have also been reducing service to Elmont over the last few months because of other works that they are doing.
![Mirrr x BUS5 - กี่เหตุผล (1000REASONS) [Live Session]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/6Ta00hFr2qU/mqdefault.jpg)
Thanks for the memory. I took my old man to South Station , Boston one day. He was a WWII vet and loved the horses. 'Where we going?' On a train ride. Amtrak to LIRR to Belmont Park. He loved it and didn't know it was that simple (without driving).. Early 80's I'm guessing, but great time by all!
For at least the past few weeks, crews have been installing new track with concrete ties, and third rail along the East and west legs of the wye. This would suggest that the shutdown to Belmont Park is only temporary, and that service may actually be improved upon reopening.
Maybe
I hope so.
June 10th, it will be back
@@jamtrack7867 according to the MTA, service to Belmont stakes will be the only service there
@@broyofroyo1207 that makes more sense. I saw on the TrainTime App on the 10th there were trains to Belmont which confused me
A few corrections, the Elmont shuttle trains only started running because of main line weekend trains unable to stop at Elmont due to I-678 Overpass replacement, so they ran extra westbound shuttles to Jamaica, as the only westbound thru Jamaica trains that could run can only go to Brooklyn. These shuttles mainly originated out of Ronkonkoma yard, and the mta later started running these shuttles full time due to overcrowding, and some also come out of Hempstead yard as well. Belmont Park has been equipped with derail switches and currently have the wye tracks being torn out for either replacement or for abandonment, however the loss of Belmont Park station will be a disaster for the Belmont Stakes, as more than 10x the amount of people attend the Annual Races than Islander Games/Concerts at UBS. In 2014, there were 100k+ people that had attended the Belmont Stakes, with about 30%+ people having used the LIRR. Shuttle buses to/from Elmont to the arena and the park also increase emissions, and unnecessary operating costs, that could have been used somewhere else if Belmont Park would have still been used. Elmont is not a better station at all, because of its lack of service it can handle, and due to its location. If the branch is gone for good, then June 10th, 2023, will be a disaster for the LIRR.
belmont park wye and station is a spur not a branch.
I-678 is nowhere near Elmont or Belmont Park. I hate the idea of building Elmont station, because I knew it would lead to the destruction of the Belmont Park Branch.
And if that happens, Q2/110 buses will be *exceedingly crowded* on racing days. 😳
My father took my family and I out there to Belmont Park and Racetrack for many years via the LIRR in the ‘70s and early ‘80s.
Lots a great memories out there with the LIRR in Belmont, Roosevelt Racetrack in Long Island and the IND Subway in North Conduit- Queens Aqueduct Racetrack.
Great Memories!
Special Thanks for the upload!
No problem. These videos always get comments like this and its always heartwarming to know that my content brings these memories.
I am from the Philadelphia, Pa area and have ridden the Long Island train to Belmont Park several times, especially on Belmont days since the track is usually full to capacity. This new change is a non starter for me. The old route dropped you off right at the door of the race track. Walking long distances from the new station or having to ride a shuttle bus makes the trip much more inconvenient. As much as I’m hate the traffic to get to Belmont Park, unless they return trains direct to the track I will drive rather than using the train. I am sure the same applies to the people wanting to go to the new arena also.
I’m with you 100%. The parking lot is huge and the cost is comparable. The extra cost for comfort and convenience is WELL WORTH IT. I used the elmont station and it was horrible. 20 minutes to walk to the station-so that’s a good mile walk. Then the train came up jammed packed from some dumb concert at MSG. Never again
They could cut off ties with the rest of the main line and use Belmont Park as an extension of the J/Z train over Jamaica Ave to Belmont Park or an extension of the Hillside Line (F) train to Belmont Park and utilize the space for a terminal and an extra yard capacity for the subway. This would have to be part of future plans and I can see it as a deemable solution for some Eastern extensions of the F, J/Z lines into much Eastern Parts of Queens where it is a desert!
Great video! I’m going to an event at UBS Arena in August and noticed the Belmont Park station extremely close when looking at the areal map. When looking up directions on Google on how to get there, no train seemed to stop at Belmont Park station even though I changed the times of departures etc. I thought it was very odd since Belmont Park station is so close to UBS Arena. This video cleared all of that up for me so thank you very much!
No problem at all
Please make more historical videos. Very interesting, I used to live near this station.
It's easy to see they had planned on having six continuous tracks from Jamaica to Floral Park - but first Hillside and then Elmont were formulated to block that. You can see how having the two southern tracks run as a separate two-directional line (essentially running the Hempstead Branch intact back to Jamaica) would simplify directional conflicts for accessing the arena/Belmont Park - and the stations to the east of Belmont were designed to minimize those conflicts. On the other hand, they went to great lengths to shore up and expand two giant bridges to accommodate that Elmont station, as an excuse to permanently box it in to a maximum four tracks. They will be running trains to Belmont Park in June for the Belmont Stakes, and intend to stop all service to Elmont and few other things using that as an excuse - which doesn't follow.
The way to do it correct might be rebuilding the station to 48 in high platforms 1.21m for Metric system users and add walkway to the UBS Arena since it's much closer than the current Elmont station since you need people to be bused from there to the arena.
That 12-car M3 was flying @5:07, WOOOOOO!!!🚈
When it came up on the Radar I was really excited since that shot was around a month after they came back
Yup
On February 24, 2023, the LIRR eliminated shuttle services for special events at UBS Arena. This coincided with Elmont operating full time as part of the redevelopment of train schedules for East Side Access. This was announced by LIRR.
So now the trains make every stop. Ride feels so long now.
That sounds absolutely insane - the Belmont Park station is right beside the racetrack spectator building and connected to it directly, whereas from Elmont you'd have to walk all through the parking lot and around the side of the track. Hardly a great advertisement for using transit >_
Prolly not
It’s a mile walk to and from the arena!
@@grazz7865bro got weak legs. I just walked back to the train after the islanders. About 10 mins. You have a nice wide sidewalk just for you. Under a roof
The Elmont station is a white elephant. MTA should have spent the money on renovating the eastern leg of the Belmont wye instead of throwing away $105M on a station no one uses. NY Arena Partners, in their original proposal, estimated that about 25% to 30% of event attendees would arrive by train. The actual figure is less than 3%.....AND DROPPING. There is no reason that LIRR can't run at least one train from Penn and one from GCM directly to and from UBS. Why make people walk 20 minutes in the dead of winter (or wait 20 minutes for a bus) if they could get on a train 100 yards from the front door? Additionally, the Elmont station has no waiting rooms so instead of sitting in a comfortable warm train, riders are out on an open platform in the wind and cold. MTA totally screwed this up.
I think it has mostly to do with the lack of equipment right now. If you run a train to Belmont Park you're essentially just using that train just for Belmont Park. While Elmont on the other hand is directly on mainline. So you could just have it stop along it's normal route say to Ronkonkoma or Huntington. Thus saving equipment.
@@dogboy51w What you're saying makes sense. On the other hand, there are 6 tracks available and if all trains were filled and all tracks used, that would be a capacity of about 6,000/event. That's a lot of cars off the roadways and lot of people not being exposed to the wind and cold walking to that Emerald Lot or Elmont train station. Back in 2014 the MTA spent $5M upgrading Belmont Park station by replacing and extending the platforms to accommodate 10 car trains, What's the point of that if they aren't ever going to use it?
100% agreed. They have a fairly new station right next to the arena (Belmont) which was recently renovated. Elmont is nowhere near elmont. It’s actually in bellerose. So that means when you’re dropped off at “elmont “, you’re walking a mile from Jericho turnpike to Hempstead turnpike. The station has zero to do with helping the community. Elmont is spitting distance from queens village and bellerose. If you look at the schedule, it’s a whole 2 minutes running time between the stations. WAY too many stops now. On game days, they should have ran two shuttle trains between Belmont and Hicksville and two trains between Belmont and Jamaica.
Agreed all they needed to do was make the Hempstead line a shuttle to Belmont via floral park and have other people transfer at floral park no need to shuttle from Jamaica
The (J)/(Z) could extend to Belmont Park Station to connect the LIRR Elmont UBS ARENA plus the (J)/(Z) could continue on Jamaica Avenue Line in Queens. Sorry for the late comment.
the Elmont shuttle was literally just for one weekend, the MTA has not said that the BP station/branch is closing and it’s simply being reverted back to race day service as needed
I have also yet to see a Port Jeff, or any bi-level diesel train, stop at Elmont either
I meant Huntington
The Station used only used for events only other times the Station is empty.
I think they will run it on Belmont Stakes day but other than that they won’t run anything
For those who are wondering, service will return to Belmont Park on June 10th! only*
For Belmont stakes
I'm in thr middle of making the clarification video
Plz@@QQWERTY7050 make a video abt extending the line south to Val stream
They could extend the line southward
It could connect down to Val Stream
@@QQWERTY7050 yeah
oops made this comment in reply to another comment by mistake. you keep saying belmont "branch". the wye is a spur of the hempstead branch. it is not one of the 11 LIRR braches.
It may only be a spur but if operated properly for Belmont Park races and events at the arena it would serve as a valuable asset. As it stands now the money spent on the new station will be a big waste of money. People using public transit use it for connivence to get where they want to go. If it is not easy to use people will continue to drive their cars instead of taking the train. Obviously they need new people planning these projects. I bet most of those planners do not even ride the service and see how important it can be.
@@johnchambers8528 oh i agree with u elmont station was a total waste of $. specially aftrr putting in the high level platforms at belmont. $ would have been better spent rehabbing east leg of wye, remoting the switches in the belmont yard, and putting back the switch in queens interlocking allowing trains to/from east leg to go to from main line
Does freight service still exist on the Belmont Sub?
Yes, some long distance trains still use Belmont as a layover overnight
randomly got recommended railfan video
Same and I love it
From what I have heard, the current plan is to unfortunately tear down the Belmont park station and build a Hotel there due to the Outlets, UBS arena, and Belmont stakes. Very sad to me as I have spent many days and nights at the Belmont Park station.
They are not going to tear down Belmont Park station, not after spending $5M to upgrade the station and millions more just last year replacing both the west and east leg of the tracks approaching the station. The hotel will be on the other side of UBS, where the parking lots are located.
@@frogger1952 they already started tearing down the main structure and the grand stand is gone already, only thing will be the tracks and platforms
I heard that events at the Belmont Stakes will still make use of this station.
They will
The MTA Should use all those tracks for storage if nothing else.
They use it for freight trains to be stored during long hauls or when rush hour comes
It is still used as of October 2023
WILL RUN ON BELMONT DAY ONLY DONE THAT IN 2010
Belmont Park Branch will be used for race day as needed.
it should run trains for the islanders games to an once the trans hudson tunnels are fixed i they should go though to the medowlands for sports event asnd maybe eve onto the south cost line down the jersy coast line to sebre the races as momoth park. and end where they allready and tains and redbank.
I agree that they should run trains during Islanders games, but they have also been reducing service to Elmont over the last few months because of other works that they are doing.
reslly should run service for ubs area station is laterally in the parking lot lirr is a joke