Ronkonkoma station

Ronkonkoma Station was originally built as Lake Ronkonkoma station in 1883 as a replacement for the 1843-built Lakeland station designed to serve both Lakeland and Ronkonkoma, New York, as well as the 1853-built Hermanville station, designed for a former community along the south side of the tracks. The original Lake Road station operated simultaneously with the one at the general store on Ocean Avenue, and at some point was renamed "Lake station," until eventually being phased out. No record of the original station's existence can be found after 1857. The station had one side platform, and two tracks. An 1852 advertisement for Hermanville in a few books mention the Long Island Rail Road. Hermannville also made an appearance on the 1855 Colton map. On the Map of The Village of Hermannville, Town of Islip, Suffolk County, Long Island, Hemannville station is shown as being at the intersection of the Main Line and Herman Avenue, which today is part of the Ronkonkoma Yard. After Lakeland Lake Ronkonkoma station replaced Lakeland station in 1883 and was designed to serve both Lakeland and Ronkonkoma, New York. At some point, the word "Lake" was dropped from the station name. The station house burned on February 7, 1933 and a temporary rectangular one-story building with a gabled roof was used until September 1937, when the second Ronkonkoma station was completed. Throughout much of the 20th century, it also served as a sizable freight hub for central Suffolk County. The 1937 station was used for storage until it was razed in 1994 when part of the station's parking lot was extended westward. The current station was designed by architect Richard Henry Behr. Ronkonkoma Yard is also located east of the station, in close proximity to the former Holbrook station, which was torn down in 1962. Ronkonkoma station has also served commuters from the former Holtsville station since its closure in March 1998. ==Station layout==

This station is set up using the Spanish solution with three high-level platforms, each 12 cars long. Platform B, an island platform, facilitates a cross-platform interchange when a Ronkonkoma Branch train and a Greenport train arrive at the same time on opposite tracks. == Future ==

Airport terminal connector In February 2024, the Federal Aviation Administration approved the Town of Islip's plan to erect a new airport terminal on the north side of MacArthur Airport, adjacent to the south side of the Ronkonkoma LIRR station. The project will directly connect the Ronkonkoma LIRR station with the new airport terminal via a pedestrian walkway, creating a direct LIRR connection to the airport without needing to transfer to buses or taxis. In February 2025, New York state announced that it is investing $150 million into the construction of the pedestrian connection between the station and new airport terminal. Bus depot In January 2025, it was announced by Suffolk County that, in addition to the new Amtrak service at Ronkonkoma, a new passenger bus depot will also be built on the south side the station, primarily serving Suffolk County Transit buses. == In popular culture ==

• In The Oh, Hello Show, John Mulaney's character, George St. Geegland, wrote a book, Next Stop: Ronkonkoma. The book, which is over 1,000 pages in length, is the story of 100 people on a train on Long Island. == Mid-Suffolk Yard ==

The Mid-Suffolk Yard – also known as the Ronkonkoma Yard – is a 23-track train storage yard, located just to the east of the Ronkonkoma Long Island Rail Road station. As this is the eastern end of the electrified portion of the Main Line, the yard stores the LIRR's electric multiple unit train sets that are used on the Ronkonkoma Branch. Locations in Deer Park, Central Islip, and Yaphank were also considered for the construction of the yard. The Deer Park option was dismissed as it would have impacted several grade crossings, duplicated employee facilities and as it would not have benefited riders east of the station. The Central Islip site was dismissed as it would have been located within Connetquot River State Park Preserve. The Yaphank option was rejected because of the high cost of electrification, as well as due to the requirement that all stations between Ronkonkoma and Yaphank – namely, Medford and Yaphank – receive upgrades. The construction work was initially expected to be finished by late 2018. A construction award was finally made in December 2017, and the completion date was pushed back to late 2020. The yard was ultimately completed in November 2020. == See also ==