History
Babylon Station originally opened as a South Side Railroad of Long Island depot on October 28, 1867. It was briefly renamed Seaside station in the summer of 1868, but resumed its original name of Babylon station in 1869. The Central Railroad of Long Island had once planned an extension to the Great South Bay and Fire Island which was never built, and a horse car and later trolley line was provided by the Babylon Rail Road company as a substitute. The second depot opened on July 2, 1881, and was razed in 1963 as part of the grade elimination project that was taking place along the entire Babylon Branch during the post-war era. The new elevated third station opened on September 9, 1964. East of the station, a train washing canopy existed in West Islip until 2005. In June 2010, the LIRR broke ground on a new environmentally friendly train wash canopy, since Ronkonkoma station had the only train wash on the east end. This new train wash is be able to recycle water already used using filters and is capable of washing up to 180 electric multiple unit cars a day (equivalent to 15 twelve-car trains, 18 ten-car trains, about 22 eight-car trains, or 30 six-car trains.)
As budgeted in the 2008–2013 Capital Plan, station rehabilitation over the next five years will include the demolition of the existing platforms and design and construction of a new platform as well as replacement of platform waiting rooms, escalators, and elevators. The project is projected to cost $39 million and will replace infrastructure that has existed since 1964.
Read more about this topic: Babylon (LIRR Station)
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