Jamaica station
Long Island Rail Road train station in Queens, New York
Jamaica station is a major train station on the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) located in Jamaica, Queens, New York City. With weekday ridership exceeding 200,000 passengers, it is the largest transit hub on Long Island, the fourth-busiest rail station in North America, and the second-busiest station that exclusively serves commuter traffic. It is the third-busiest rail hub in the New York area, behind Penn Station and Grand Central Terminal. Over 1,000 trains pass through each day, the fourth-most in the New York area behind Penn Station, Grand Central Terminal, and Secaucus Junction.
Jamaica station is located on an embankment above street level and contains six platforms and ten tracks for LIRR trains. A concourse above the LIRR platforms connects to a station on the AirTrain JFK elevated people mover to John F. Kennedy International Airport, which contains two tracks and one platform. There are also connections to the Archer Avenue lines of the New York City Subway at a separate station directly below. The area just outside is served by several local bus routes, and others terminate within a few blocks of the station.
The station is located at the junction between the LIRR's three main trunk routes, its Main Line, Atlantic Branch, and Montauk Branch. Due to this, all LIRR passenger service barring the Port Washington Branch operates through here, with it being common for commuters to "Change at Jamaica" between trains to travel between points on Long Island and the four New York City terminals.
The public source identifies “Jamaica station” as long Island Rail Road train station in Queens, New York. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Jamaica, station and Long.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Jamaica station”, the useful work is to connect “long Island Rail Road train station in Queens, New York” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 27, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q11310077. The Library of Congress control number is sh2010003583. Authority coordinates are 40.700, -73.808. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Jamaica station”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Jamaica station primary sources, Jamaica station archive and Jamaica research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Jamaica station”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Jamaica station” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.