Atlantic Terminal facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

This page is about the Long Island Rail Road station. For the adjacent shopping center, see Atlantic Terminal (shopping mall).

Quick facts for kids

Atlantic Terminal

The entrance pavilion at Atlantic Terminal, which opened in 2010.

Location

Atlantic Avenue, Flatbush Avenue & Hanson Place
Brooklyn, New York City

Coordinates

40°41′03″N 73°58′38″W / 40.684226°N 73.977234°W

Owned by

Long Island Rail Road

Line(s)

Atlantic Branch

Platforms

3 island platforms

Tracks

Connections

New York City Subway:

at Atlantic Avenue – Barclays Center

NYCT Bus: B41, B45, B63, B65, B67, B103

Construction

Disabled access

Yes

Other information

Fare zone

History

Opened

July 2, 1877

Rebuilt

1907, 2010

Electrified

July 26, 1905
750 V (DC) third rail

Previous names

Brooklyn (1852–1877)
Flatbush Avenue (1877–2010)

Traffic

Passengers (2012—2014)

21,829

Rank

4 of 125

Services

Preceding station		Following station
Terminus	Hempstead Branch	Nostrand Avenue towards Hempstead
	Port Jefferson Branch	Nostrand Avenue towards Huntington or Port Jefferson
	Ronkonkoma Branch	Nostrand Avenue towards Greenport via Ronkonkoma
	West Hempstead Branch weekdays	Nostrand Avenue towards West Hempstead
	Babylon Branch	Nostrand Avenue towards Wantagh or Babylon
	Long Beach Branch	Nostrand Avenue towards Long Beach
	Far Rockaway Branch	Nostrand Avenue towards Far Rockaway

Atlantic Terminal (formerly Flatbush Avenue) is the westernmost stop on the Long Island Rail Road's (LIRR) Atlantic Branch. It is located where Flatbush Avenue and Atlantic Avenue meet in Downtown Brooklyn, New York City. This station is the main starting or ending point for trains on the Far Rockaway, Hempstead, and West Hempstead lines. Atlantic Terminal is part of the LIRR's Zone 1, which means it's included in the CityTicket program.

History of Atlantic Terminal
Station Layout
Subway and Bus Connections
Nearby Points of Interest
Images for kids
Gallery
See also

History of Atlantic Terminal

Early Days and Name Changes

The station first opened in 1852 and was called Brooklyn. At that time, it wasn't the very end of the line; the trains went further west to South Ferry. In 1861, the main LIRR line moved to a new route between Hunter's Point and Jamaica. The tracks west of East New York were then used by horse-drawn cars, as steam trains were no longer allowed in Brooklyn.

On July 2, 1877, the station's name changed to Flatbush Avenue. Soon after, on August 13, local trains on Atlantic Avenue started stopping there. The station building was updated in 1878 and again in 1880. In 1882, the Long Island Express Company set up its main office here, adding many tracks known as the "EX Yard."

Connecting to the Subway

In 1888, the Union Elevated Railway built an elevated train line and station that connected to the LIRR station. This elevated station was known as Atlantic Avenue (BMT Fifth Avenue Line). This elevated line later became part of the Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Corporation. The LIRR station itself was rebuilt again in 1893.

Between 1904 and 1906, the freight yards were updated. This was part of a big project to completely rebuild the station. The second station building opened on April 1, 1907. This new station had its tracks underground and the main building at street level. It featured a large lobby and direct entrances to the tracks, similar to subway stations. It also served as a post office for a while and had areas for baggage and goods.

More subway lines connected to the station over time. The Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) opened its Eastern Parkway Line with a station on Atlantic Avenue on May 1, 1908. The BMT also added two more subway lines nearby: one on Pacific Street (part of the BMT Fourth Avenue Line) in 1915, and another on Atlantic Avenue (part of the BMT Brighton Line) in 1920. However, the connection to the BMT Fifth Avenue Line was removed in 1940.

Decline and Rebirth

The station was cleaned up in the early 1940s. But after World War II, fewer people used trains, and the station slowly started to decline. Some tracks were taken out of service in the 1950s and 1970s. The old express buildings became a parking garage. Many small businesses like barber shops and restaurants that used to be in the station were gone by 1978.

Despite efforts to improve the station in the early 1980s, it suffered from damage, including water leaks. Because of this, the street-level part of the station was closed in 1988, and parts of it were torn down in the 1990s.

A brand new entrance building, designed by di Domenico + Partners, opened on January 5, 2010. This new building made it much easier to connect between the LIRR, subways, and buses. In March 2010, after six years of reconstruction work (during which trains kept running), the station was officially renamed Atlantic Terminal.

In 2014, the LIRR announced that during New York Islanders games at Barclays Center, trains from Babylon and Hicksville would go directly to Atlantic Terminal. Normally, passengers would have to change trains at Jamaica. However, with the upcoming East Side Access project, most service to Atlantic Terminal will be a frequent shuttle train to and from Jamaica.

Station Layout

The LIRR terminal is one floor below the street. It has three high-level island platforms, which are platforms with tracks on both sides. These platforms serve six tracks.

Platform A is long enough for ten train cars. However, the two cars at the very end of Track 1 cannot be used because there's a big gap between the train and the platform.
Platform B can fit eight train cars.
Platform C can fit six train cars, but Track 6 only has space for four cars to meet the platform. This is because it's right next to the subway platform for the IRT Eastern Parkway Line.

G	Street level	Entrances/exits, pavilion, station house, fare control, station agents, LIRR ticket booth, MetroCard machines
		Barclays Center
		Connection to Atlantic Terminal shopping mall
B1 Eastern Parkway platforms	Side platform
	Northbound local	← toward 241st Street (Nevins Street) ← toward 148th Street (Nevins Street) ← toward Woodlawn late nights (Nevins Street)
	Northbound express	← toward Woodlawn (Nevins Street) ← weekdays toward Dyre Avenue or Nereid Avenue (Nevins Street)
	Island platform
	Southbound express	→ toward Utica Avenue (New Lots Avenue late nights) (Franklin Avenue–Medgar Evers College) → → weekdays toward Flatbush Avenue (Franklin Avenue–Medgar Evers College) →
	Southbound local	→ toward Flatbush Avenue (Bergen Street) → → ( late nights) toward New Lots Avenue (Bergen Street) →
	Side platform
B1 LIRR platforms	Track 1	→ Atlantic Branch services toward Jamaica and Points East (Nostrand Avenue) →
	Platform A, island platform
	Track 2	→ Atlantic Branch services toward Jamaica and Points East (Nostrand Avenue) →
	Track 3	→ Atlantic Branch services toward Jamaica and Points East (Nostrand Avenue) →
	Platform B, island platform
	Track 4	→ Atlantic Branch services toward Jamaica and Points East (Nostrand Avenue) →
	Track 5	→ Atlantic Branch services toward Jamaica and Points East (Nostrand Avenue) →
	Platform C, island platform
	Track 6	→ Atlantic Branch services toward Jamaica and Points East (Nostrand Avenue) →
B2	Mezzanine	Passageway between platforms
B3 Brighton platform	Northbound	← weekdays toward Bedford Park Boulevard or 145th Street (DeKalb Avenue) ← toward 96th Street (DeKalb Avenue)
	Island platform
	Southbound	→ weekdays toward Brighton Beach (Seventh Avenue) → → toward Coney Island via Brighton (Seventh Avenue) →
B3 Fourth Avenue platforms	Northbound local	← toward 71st Avenue (Whitehall Street late nights) (DeKalb Avenue) ← toward 205th Street late nights (DeKalb Avenue) ← toward Ditmars Boulevard late nights (DeKalb Avenue)
	Island platform
	Northbound express	← toward 205th Street (Grand Street) ← toward Ditmars Boulevard (Canal Street)
	Southbound express	→ toward Coney Island via West End (36th Street) → → toward Coney Island via Sea Beach (36th Street) →
	Island platform
	Southbound local	→ toward 95th Street (Union Street) → → toward Coney Island late nights (Union Street) →

Subway and Bus Connections

Atlantic Terminal is directly connected to the New York City Subway's Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center station complex. This complex is served by the 2, 3, 4, 5, B, D, N, Q, R and W train subway lines.

Outside the station, you can also catch several NYCT Bus lines:

B41
B45
B63
B65
B67
B103

Nearby Points of Interest

The train station is right next to the Atlantic Terminal mall. It is also very close to:

The Barclays Center
The Brooklyn Academy of Music
The Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower
Brooklyn Technical High School

A huge new complex called Pacific Park is being built near the station. This complex will include homes, businesses, and sports facilities, including the Barclays Center, and will be built above the train yard tracks.