Hempstead Branch

Hempstead Branch
Hempstead Branch train #757 enters Stewart Manor, due west to Brooklyn.
Overview
Type	Commuter rail
System	Long Island Rail Road
Status	Operational
Locale	Queens and Nassau County, New York, USA
Termini	Jamaica Hempstead
Stations	9
Services	Hempstead Branch
Operation
Opened	1873 (as part of the Central Railroad of Long Island)
Owner	Long Island Rail Road
Operator(s)	Metropolitan Transportation Authority
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Electrification	750 V (DC) Third rail
Route map Main Line (west) 16.1 Bellerose 16.9 Floral Park Main Line (east) 18.1 Stewart Manor 19.1 Nassau Boulevard 20.2 Garden City Mitchel Field Secondary Former Oyster Bay Branch diverges 20.8 Country Life Press Former West Hempstead Branch diverges 22.6 Hempstead Distances shown in miles from Pennsylvania Station. This diagram:

Distances shown in miles from Pennsylvania Station.

The Hempstead Branch is an electrified rail line and service owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in the U.S. state of New York. The branch begins at the Main Line at Queens Interlocking, just east of Queens Village station. It parallels the Main Line past Bellerose to Floral Park, where it splits southward and continues east via the village of Garden City to Hempstead Crossing. There it turns south to the final two stations, Country Life Press and Hempstead.

LIRR maps and schedules show Hempstead Branch service continuing west along the Main Line to Jamaica. The Hempstead Branch's trains stop at Hollis and Queens Village stations on the Main Line, but these two stations are not served by any other Main Line branch. The line is double tracked to just east of Garden City Station, where it is reduced to one track at Garden Interlocking for the final 1.4 miles to Hempstead station.

The original Hempstead Branch of the LIRR ran south from Mineola, ending just west of the current terminal in Hempstead. It opened on July 4, 1839 as the first branch of the LIRR.