Elmhurst station (LIRR)


Elmhurst was a station of the Port Washington Branch of the Long Island Rail Road. It was located on Broadway between Cornish and Whitney Avenues in the Elmhurst section of Queens, New York City.
In 2014, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority had proposed to rebuild the station. only a preliminary design study is funded.

History

The first depot opened as Newtown around 1855 by the Flushing Railroad, later renamed Elmhurst around June 1897 and razed around 1888. The second depot opened around December 1888 and razed around 1927. The elevated and third depot opened around 1927 and the station and depot was finally closed and razed on January 1, 1985. It stood on the east side of Broadway, a block south of the Elmhurst Avenue subway station.
In March 2012, lawmakers and the rail road announced that they were considering building a new station at Elmhurst to restore service, at an estimated cost of $20 to $30 million. The 2015-2019 MTA capital program initially included $40 million to design and construct the new station, which would be in the same location as the old one. However, in a 2017 amendment of the capital program, the agency postponed the construction of the new station, only including $3 million to fund station design.

Station layout

Elmhurst station was built on ground level, later raised onto an embankment going across Broadway past Whitney Avenue. The station had a long platform and pedestrian underpass near the corner of Ketcham Place and 43rd Avenue to 88th Street. The underpass remains in use today. Additionally, there was an entrance to the Port Washington-bound platform near the corner of Cornish Avenue and Broadway and a tunnel leading to the Elmhurst Avenue station on the IND Queens Boulevard Line. Last, there was a freight loading area near the Durkee Spice Factory where freight would be unloaded. Separate tracks leading to the loading dock still remain in sight.