Beach 98th Street station
The Beach 98th Street station is a local station on the IND Rockaway Line of the New York City Subway. It is served by the Rockaway Park Shuttle at all times and ten daily rush-hour only A trains.
History
The station was originally built by the Long Island Rail Road in April 1903 as Steeplechase on the Rockaway Beach Branch, and was also a trolley stop of the Ocean Electric Railway. It was renamed Playland on May 15, 1933, for Rockaways' Playland, which was closed in 1985. No trace of the park remains other than the station name. The station was rebuilt as an elevated station, which opened on April 10, 1942. The station was purchased by New York City on October 3, 1955, along with the rest of the Rockaway Beach Branch and Far Rockaway Branch west of Far Rockaway, after a fire on the line's crossing over Jamaica Bay in 1950. Now operated by the New York City Transit Authority, it reopened as a subway station along the IND Rockaway Line on June 28, 1956.
Station layout
The station is built on a concrete viaduct. There are two tracks and two side platforms. The station is served by the Rockaway Park Shuttle at all times and limited A trains during rush hours in the peak direction. It is between Beach 90th Street to the east and Beach 105th Street to the west. New lights have been installed. Canopies, mezzanine, and side walls are similar to Beach 90th Street.
Exits
There is a crossunder to the tiled mezzanine. The southbound platform is longer than the northbound one, and had an exit at the north end of the Rockaway Park bound platform which has been removed. Outside of fare control, there are stairs to either eastern corner of Rockaway Freeway and Beach 98th Street.