New Elmont Train Station Announced As Part Of Belmont Plan

Gov. Andrew Cuomo unveiled plans for a new, full-time train station in Elmont today, which will be part of the Belmont Park Redevelopment Project and the construction of the Islander's new arena.

The station will be the first new LIRR station built in nearly 50 years. In addition, Cuomo released the economic impact of the Belmont redevelopment, which says it will generate nearly $50 million in public revenue each year and $725 million in annual economic output.

"The Belmont project will help drive the region's economy forward while building the Islanders a state-of-the-art facility at home on Long Island, creating thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in economic output along the way," Cuomo said. "Now with the addition of the first full-time LIRR train station in almost 50 years, we will provide millions of visitors and fans a fast and affordable way to get there and continue New York's nation-leading investments in 21st century transportation infrastructure."

The project has received much input from the community, Cuomo said, which led to the height of the proposed hotel being reduced by 100 feet and reducing the retail area by 100,000 square feet. The new LIRR station also came form discussions with the community.

The new train station will be located between the Queens Village and Bellerose stations on the LIRR's Main Line, just east of the Cross Island Parkway. Electric shuttle buses — which are already planned to run from parking lots within Belmont Park to the arena site — will also serve LIRR riders traveling to the grandstand and planned arena, hotel and retail village. In addition, the new station will relieve pressure on the existing Belmont spur station during major events like the Belmont Stakes and provide critically-needed redundancy if there is a service disruption to the spur, as occurred in 2018.

The new station will provide direct service to Belmont Park from both the east and west, as opposed to the LIRR spur, which can only provide westbound service. This will reduce travel times and is expected to increase the number of event attendees who use public transportation rather than driving, reducing congestion.

The station will also be used by residents who commute, something the community has needed for years. The station is expected to receive service about every half hour during peak times and hourly during off-peak periods. The parking lot north of the Belmont race track, which has 2,860 spaces, will be shared by commuters and arena patrons.

Previously-agreed-to upgrades to the existing LIRR Belmont spur, including the installation of automated track switches, are still included in the project. These upgrades will allow trains leaving the spur after an event to serve stations both east and west of Belmont — providing another post-event public transit option for attendees.

Constructing the new station and upgrading the existing spur is estimated to cost $105 million. The arena developers will cover $97 million, and the state will invest $8 million.

According to an analysis of the Belmont Redevelopment Project, the project will have a positive impact the region's economy, creating approximately 10,000 construction jobs and 3,200 permanent jobs, generating nearly $50 million in new public revenue annually, creating approximately $725 million in annual economic activity and generating annual employee earnings of roughly $133 million.

The project is estimated to generate $44 million in tax revenue for Nassau County, the Town of Hempstead, the MTA and the state, as well as $272 million in PILOT payments over the next 49 years. That will include more than $150 million for the Elmont and Sewanhaka school districts, more than $100 million for Nassau County and $15 million for the Elmont Fire District.

"We are delighted by this plan, which allows us to provide full time year-round service to the Elmont community and a second station at the redeveloped Belmont Park, all at no construction cost to the LIRR," said LIRR President Phillip Eng. "This new station will allow us to provide direct service to Belmont from Long Island as well as from New York City with trains traveling on our Main Line, which is being expanded to a third track for greater service reliability and flexibility."