City Terminal Zone
The City Terminal Zone is the set of Long Island Rail Road lines within New York City west of Jamaica station, except the Port Washington Branch.
Routes
Current routes
There are four routes that are part of the City Terminal Zone:- New York Penn Station – Trains that, from Jamaica, travel west along the Main Line to Penn Station in Manhattan via the East River Tunnels.
- Grand Central Madison – Trains that travel along the Main Line to Grand Central Madison via East Side Access, which includes the lower level of the 63rd Street Tunnel and a new tunnel under Park Avenue. Due to clearance restrictions in the tunnel, the C3 bilevel cars cannot access the terminal.
- Atlantic Terminal – Trains that travel along the Atlantic Branch to Brooklyn.
- Long Island City – Trains that serve Hunterspoint Avenue and Long Island City in Queens. These trains also use the Main Line west of Jamaica, but typically skip Woodside, Forest Hills, and Kew Gardens. This route is served only during weekday rush hours in the peak direction.
Former routes
Stations
East of, trains continue in Long Island on the Main Line, Atlantic Branch, and Montauk Branch.The Atlantic Terminal, Nostrand Avenue, and East New York stations are primarily served by a shuttle running between Atlantic Terminal and Jamaica. These stations are also served by select trains on the West Hempstead Branch on weekdays only, and a limited number of weekday peak trains from the Hempstead and Babylon branches. Other trains traveling east of Jamaica only run to Penn Station, Grand Central Madison, or Long Island City.