Long Island Rail Road
commuter rail service in Long Island, New York
The Long Island Rail Road (reporting mark LI), or LIRR, is a railroad in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of New York, stretching from Manhattan to the eastern tip of Suffolk County on Long Island. The railroad currently operates a public commuter rail service, with its freight operations contracted to the New York and Atlantic Railway. With an average daily ridership of 328,300 (weekdays, Q2 2026), and annual ridership of 103,474,900 (2025), it is the busiest commuter railroad in North America. It is also one of the world's few commuter systems that run 24/7 year-round. It is publicly owned by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which refers to it as MTA Long Island Rail Road.
The LIRR logo combines the circular MTA logo with the text Long Island Rail Road, and appears on the sides of trains. The LIRR is one of two commuter rail systems owned by the MTA, the other being the Metro-North Railroad in the northern suburbs of the New York metropolitan area. Established in 1834 (the first section between the Brooklyn waterfront and Jamaica opened on April 18, 1836) and having operated continuously since then, it is the oldest railroad in the United States still operating under its original name and charter. The railroad has been headquartered in the headhouse of Jamaica Station, the second busiest station in the system, since 1913.
There are 126 stations and more than 700 miles (1,100 km) of track on its two main lines running the full length of the island and eight major branches, with the passenger railroad system totaling 319 route miles (513 km).
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Long Island Rail Road” as commuter rail service in Long Island, New York. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as commuter rail service in Long Island, New York. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
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 Sep 3, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q125943. VIAF identifies the subject as 129025329. The Library of Congress control number is n82052559. Authority coordinates are 40.700, -73.808. 4 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2026, 2025, 1834 and 1836.
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 “Long Island Rail Road”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Long Island Rail Road primary sources, Long Island Rail Road archive and Long 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 “Long Island Rail Road”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Long Island Rail Road” 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.