Southampton College station explained

Southampton College
Style:LIRR
Address:Tuckahoe Road
Shinnecock Hills, New York
Coordinates:40.891°N -72.4408°W
Platform:1 side platform
Tracks:1
Opened:1907, 1976, 2004, 2018
Closed:1938,[1] 1998, 2004, 2018
Rebuilt:1976, 2004, 2018
Code:None
Owned:Long Island Rail Road
Zone:14
Former:Golf Grounds (1907 - 1939); Southampton College (1976 - 1998); Shinnecock Hills (2004; 2018)
Other Services Header:Former services

Southampton College (also known as Southampton Campus, Golf Grounds, and Shinnecock Hills) was a Long Island Rail Road station along the Montauk Branch of the Long Island Rail Road, located in Shinnecock Hills, Suffolk County, New York, United States.

History

Originally a seasonal flag stop called Golf Grounds, the station opened April 1907 to serve sites such as the Shinnecock Hills Golf Club and National Golf Links of America and was closed in 1938.

In order to serve the Long Island University's Southampton College (now owned by Stony Brook University) it reopened as Southampton College on May 24, 1976.[2]

In 1986, the Long Island Rail Road also provided service for spectators traveling to the 1986 U.S. Open, using this station for the game services.

On March 16, 1998, the station was once again discontinued as a station stop and was subsequently demolished – along with a handful of other Long Island Rail Road stations – due to low ridership.[3] At the time, the station had an average daily ridership of 16 passengers, and the low ridership did not make it cost effective for high level platforms to be installed to accommodate the LIRR's new C3 bilevel rail cars, which require such platforms.[4] [5]

Temporary re-openings

A temporary station with a high level platform was opened at this location in June 2004 for the U.S. Open and was listed as Shinnecock Hills on special timetables.[6] The same situation occurred in 2018 during the 2018 U.S. Open Golf Championship.[7] [8]

Station layout

The station had 1 low level side platform. As the newer C3 railcars required high level platforms at stations, the trains would not be able to serve the station without building a new, high level platform to replace the existing low level one.

Track 1← toward or toward
Side platform, doors will open on the left or right

Notes and References

  1. News: 3 R.R. Stations Closed . December 4, 2019 . . February 9, 1938 . 7. Newspapers.com.
  2. Web site: The 1986 U.S. Open and the Long Island Rail Road . January 31, 2010 . arrts-arrchives.com.
  3. News: Sengupta . Somini . End of the Line for L.I.R.R.'s 10 Loneliest Stops . The New York Times . March 15, 1998 . August 7, 2009.
  4. News: End of the Road . The East Hampton Star . March 26, 1998 . January 31, 2010.
  5. Web site: Schneider . Craig . 2018-06-15 . Officials: U.S. Open spectators fill LIRR trains, easing congestion . 2024-04-23 . Newsday . en.
  6. News: Town, LIRR, USGA Plans, Handling the Open Crowds . Joie . Tyrrell . Mitchell . Freedman . Newsday . March 25, 2004 . A.19 . 2024-04-23 . Newspapers.com.
  7. Web site: Castillo . Alfonso A. . 2018-06-07 . LIRR opens temporary station for Shinnecock Hills golf tourney . 2024-04-23 . Newsday . en.
  8. Web site: Murphy . William . 2018-06-19 . LIRR: More than 78,000 passenger trips to, from U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills . 2024-04-23 . Newsday . en.