Hicksville and Jamaica Station Improvements Begin

[MattAmity90]

West Hempstead trains no longer stop at St. Albans. The branch sees little service and instead is more like a shuttle where trains go back and forth from West Hempstead to Valley Stream where customers have to board a train from Far Rockaway, Long Beach, or sometimes a Babylon. St. Albans is now serviced by only the Babylon and Long Beach Branches.

I was writing about "peak West Hempstead" trains - necessarily through trains, not shuttles to/from Valley Stream. In the AM Peak, there are four of them stopping at St. Albans and terminating at FBA/Brooklyn (3) or Penn (1). If the LIRR decided running more than one of these to Grand Central after ESA opening day would be a waste of capacity there, for instance, it could still have the other two terminate at FBA/Brooklyn without negatively impacting other branches' traffic at Jamica.

Oh, so the OFF PEAK West Hempstead trains are only shuttles from West Hempstead to Valley Stream and back?

[Amtrak7]

Hicksville update as of yesterday: Rebar and forms are being laid along the western portion of the platform (the portion beyond the canopies, first to be demolished). Workers were using compressed air to blow the dust off the tops of the old support structures, it appears they will be reused. In the middle of the station, the supports are being reduced to the proper height for platform installation. Demolition continues on the east end of the station, I'd estimate around 100 feet of platform left to remove.

[adamj023]

Hicksville update as of yesterday: Rebar and forms are being laid along the western portion of the platform (the portion beyond the canopies, first to be demolished). Workers were using compressed air to blow the dust off the tops of the old support structures, it appears they will be reused. In the middle of the station, the supports are being reduced to the proper height for platform installation. Demolition continues on the east end of the station, I'd estimate around 100 feet of platform left to remove.

Hicksville station on Satellite imagery looked to be in really bad shape considering it is used for Montauk, Ronkonkoma and Port Jefferson lines.

Jamaica station was already redone with the new addition being worked on now and Hicksville is making nice progress.

I have used Jamaica station but never Hicksville station before. The newly redone station should make for much better transfers.

[MattAmity90]

I saw Bellstbarn's photos and it looks like the Western portion of Platform B was already put in, along with several feet of new platform installed where they didn't have to knock down any of the canopy supports. Let's just hope they use this when Babylon gets rehabilitated sometime down the road.

[MNCRR9000]

September 11th, 2017

Upgraded Hicksville Station
Commuters at the Hicksville LIRR station have a brand new platform, complete with modern, state-of-the-art upgrades as part of a $121 million modernization of the Main Line hub in Nassau County.
Taken out of use on May 22, Platform A reopened at 11:59 p.m. on Sept. 3, with the 12:34 a.m. train to Penn Station as the first train to pass through the platform on Track #1.
The old 12-car concrete platform was demolished -- as was its canopy -- to make way for the new platform and a translucent canopy. New energy-efficient platform lighting and signage were also installed, along with a new Audio Visual Paging System, which includes train time signs and speakers. Concrete surfaces were painted while three existing stairways were replaced and one new staircase at the western pedestrian underpass was built. Construction has begun on a new, additional elevator hoist way in the station plaza.
Heated platform waiting rooms will be constructed this fall, as well as the commissioning of the new elevator and escalator, with the translucent canopy roof system to be completed this coming winter.
Other upcoming upgrades to help transform the 55-year-old station include Wi-Fi, USB charging stations an enhanced interior waiting room, a video security system and a new laminated art glass installation by New York-based artist Roy Nicholson, who designed the mosaic tile art work in the station ticket office in 2001.
The Hicksville project is one of a number of LIRR projects covered by an innovative 2013 Project Labor Agreement between the LIRR and the Buildings and Construction Trades Council of Nassau and Suffolk that has helped reduce construction costs by 10%. Work on Platform B continued on Sept. 5 for upgrades similar to Platform A. The project is supported by the MTA Capital Program.

http://www.mta.info/news/2017/09/11/upg ... rm-reopens" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[MattAmity90]

I thought parts of Platform B were already rehabilitated, and that some sections of the canopies weren't torn down? I know Platform A was just put back into service of course without elevator access and an escalator that has yet to be put in service.

[Amtrak7]

I thought parts of Platform B were already rehabilitated, and that some sections of the canopies weren't torn down? I know Platform A was just put back into service of course without elevator access and an escalator that has yet to be put in service.

No canopies were demolished on either platform. Some parts of Platform B have already been replaced. There is elevator access to Platform A, using the original elevator which will remain. The new one is not yet installed.

[JamesRR]

A colleague shared photos of the platforms being poured - did they put radiant heating in the platforms for snow/ice melting? It seemed like something (other than rebar) was being prepared.