Atlantic Terminal | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Theentrance pavilion at Atlantic Terminal, which opened in 2010. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| General information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Atlantic Avenue, Flatbush Avenue & Hanson Place Brooklyn,New York City | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 40°41′03″N73°58′38″W / 40.684226°N 73.977234°W /40.684226; -73.977234 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Owned by | Long Island Rail Road | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Line(s) | Atlantic Branch | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Platforms | 3island platforms | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tracks | 6 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Connections |  New York City Subway:          atAtlantic Avenue–Barclays Center NYCT Bus:B41,B45,B63,B65,B67,B103 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Construction | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Accessible | Yes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fare zone | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| History | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Opened | July 2, 1877 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rebuilt | 1907, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Electrified | July 26, 1905 750V (DC)third rail | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Previous names | Brooklyn (1852–1877) Flatbush Avenue (1877–2010) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Passengers | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2012—2014 | 36,901 (21,829 per weekday)[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rank | 4 of125 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Services | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Atlantic Terminal (formerlyFlatbush Avenue) is the westernmostcommuter rail terminal on theLong Island Rail Road's (LIRR)Atlantic Branch, located atFlatbush Avenue andAtlantic Avenue inDowntown Brooklyn,New York City. It is the primary terminal for theWest Hempstead Branch, and a peak-hour terminal for some trains on theHempstead Branch,Far Rockaway Branch,Port Jefferson Branch,Ronkonkoma Branch, and theBabylon Branch;[2] most other service is provided by frequent shuttles toJamaica station. The terminal is located in theCity Terminal Zone, the LIRR's Zone 1, and thus part of the CityTicket program.
The station was originally namedBrooklyn in 1852,[3] twenty years after the line was established as theBrooklyn and Jamaica Railroad, and was not originally a terminus.[3] The original terminus wasSouth Ferry, via the now shutteredCobble Hill Tunnel. When LIRR subsidiaryNew York and Jamaica Railroad built a new line between Hunter's Point and Jamaica in 1861, the main line was relocated there, and the line was abandoned west ofEast New York, in compliance with Brooklyn's ban on steam railroads. West of East New York, the tracks were taken over by horse car lines.
The Brooklyn station designation was replaced by theFlatbush Avenue station on July 2, 1877. That same summer local Atlantic Avenue rapid transit trains began to stop there on August 13.[4] The old depot was renovated between July–August 1878, when it began serving theBrooklyn, Flatbush and Coney Island Railroad. It was rebuilt again in June 1880. The headquarters for the Long Island Express Company was installed there in 1882, and gave the station a series of tracks that would later be known as the "EX Yard." In 1888, the Union Elevated Railway built an elevated railway line and station that connected to the LIRR station called theAtlantic Avenue station. The Union Elevated eventually became part of theBrooklyn-Manhattan Transit Corporation. Further rebuilding took place again in 1893.
Between 1904 and 1906, the Carlton Avenue Freight Yards were replaced by theVanderbilt Avenue Freight Yards. This was just a portion of a major improvement project that included the complete reconstruction of the station. The second depot opened on April 1, 1907, with the depot at street level and the tracks installed underground. The station had a lobby that was larger than most LIRR stations, and contained subway type entrances to the tracks.[5] It also served as a post office building until 1925,[6] and contained a baggage depot, express buildings, some meat houses which were inherited from the previous version of the station, and a merchandise terminal for "less than carload freight" added on in 1908. TheInterborough Rapid Transit Company built a subway line called theEastern Parkway Line and astation on Atlantic Avenue, that connected to the station on May 1, 1908. The BMT also built two more subway lines onPacific Street along theFourth Avenue Line on June 22, 1915, andAtlantic Avenue along theBrighton Line on August 1, 1920. The connection to theBMT Fifth Avenue Line was lost on May 31, 1940.[7]
The station was refurbished and the exterior was sandblasted in the early 1940s. The decline of rail service after World War II led to the station's gradual demise, however. Track #1 was out of service on April 10, 1959. Former express tracks numbers 9–14 ("EX" Yard) were taken out of service on March 3, 1971. At some point, the express buildings became a parking garage. Local businesses were still allowed to utilize the station, such as a barber shop, restaurants, candy stores, a snack bar, a podiatrist's office, a dental office, a beauty school, and even a row of telephone booths. Those businesses were gone by 1978. The tracks that were originally numbered from south to north were renumbered from north to south on July 1, 1978. Despite efforts to repaint the lobby in the early-1980s, random vandalism plagued the station interior causing water damage that was so severe, the street level depot was closed in 1988,[8] and portions were razed during the 1990s.
The MTA approved plans in March 1998 to renovate the Atlantic Avenue–Pacific Street subway station and the adjoining LIRR terminal, as well as build theAtlantic Terminal shopping mall above the station.[9] Work on the stations' renovation began in 2000, and work on the shopping mall commenced the next year.[10] On January 5, 2010, a newentry pavilion, designed by di Domenico + Partners, opened, providing improved connections between the LIRR, subways, and buses.[11] In March 2010, the station was renamedAtlantic Terminal after a six-year reconstruction project,[12] during which trains continued to operate.
In 2014, the LIRR announced that service fromBabylon andHicksville would go directly to Atlantic Terminal duringNew York Islanders games atBarclays Center. Passengers previously had to transfer atJamaica to go to Babylon or Hicksville.[13]
Since the opening ofGrand Central Madison and the introduction of new schedules in February 2023, most service to Atlantic Terminal has been provided by a high-frequency shuttle service to and from Jamaica.[14]
During the morning rush hour of January 4, 2017, a train overran thebumper block at the end of track 6, injuring 103, none seriously.[15][16] There were 650 passengers on the train, which had originated fromFar Rockaway.[17] The accident occurred at about 8:20 a.m. Two cars of the six-carM7 electric multiple unit train involved were severely damaged when it collided with the bumper at a speed of 10 to 15 miles per hour (16 to 24 km/h).[15][17] The incident was compared to aSeptember 2016 train crash atHoboken Terminal inHoboken, New Jersey, wherein a train also overran a bumper block.[15]
TheNational Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) andFederal Railway Administration opened investigations into the accident.[15] On February 6, 2018, the NTSB released their Railroad Safety Brief on the accident. They determined the probable cause to be the engineer falling asleep due to chronic fatigue. The chronic fatigue was in part attributed to undiagnosedsleep apnea.[18]
The LIRR terminal, one floor below the ground level, has three high-levelisland platforms adjacent to six tracks. Platform A is ten cars long, but the two easternmost cars on Track 1 are not accessible due to a large gap between the train and the platform. Platform B is eight cars long. Platform C is six cars long, but Track 6 only has enough space for four cars to meet the platform as it is adjacent to the northbound local platform of theIRT Eastern Parkway Line.
Atlantic Terminal is connected to theNew York City Subway'sAtlantic Avenue–Barclays Center complex, which is served by the2, 3, 4, 5, B, D, N, Q, R and W trains.[19] Buses serving outside the complex includeB41,B45,B63,B65,B67, andB103.[20]
The rail terminal is adjacent to and below theAtlantic Terminal mall and near theBarclays Center,Brooklyn Academy of Music and theWilliamsburgh Savings Bank Tower, as well asBrooklyn Technical High School.
The massivePacific Park residential, commercial and sports complex, which includes Barclays Center, is being built near the station and above its yard tracks.[21]
| Google Maps Street View | |
|---|---|
 Entrance pavilion exterior | |
| Entrance pavilion interior | |
| Platform A | |
| Platform B | |
| Platform C |
