Kings Park
Smithtown is an intermediate stop on the Port Jefferson Branch located along a passing siding that stretches just east and a slightly longer distance west of the station. The station has two 12 car long high-level platforms. Many trains, on the normal 90-minute off-peak Scoot frequency to and from Huntington or Hicksville, meet a train in the opposite direction at this station. Trains when they pass in the station briefly wrong-rail using left-hand running (instead of the normal conventional right-hand running of railroads in the United States), so New York-bound trains can stop at Platform B, which contains the station house (and is signed “New York, see schedule for exemptions”). When a Port Jefferson-bound train isn’t scheduled to meet another New York-bound train it will also stop on Platform B for better passenger access.
The station’s two side platforms are slightly offset from each other by a couple of train car lengths with the northern platform running slightly farther east than the southern platform. They are connected in their midsections by an open-air pedestrian bridge with chain-linked fenced sides held up by concrete supports with a staircase down to each platform.
The southern platform begins with a staircase up from Main Street (concurrent NY25/25A) which crosses the tracks using an underpass that leads up to a low-level platform area at the western end of the platform before steps lead up to the high-level platform. Soon this platform reaches the simple white shingled station house, the station house is currently open as a waiting room and there are additional staircases of about 6 steps up to the side platform on each side of the depot. There is also minimal parking on each side of the station house. Continuing east along this platform there is a gap in parking along the platform with two buildings, containing the Smithtown Planning and Building Departments (each in their own small building). This platform ends with the ADA ramp and an additional staircase down to a much larger parking lot with access from Redwood Lane.
The northern Platform A (used by Port Jefferson-bound trains when a meet is scheduled in the station) is bare except for a single silver platform shelter (there is also one on Platform B but no further protection from the elements along either platform). It has only two access points, via the pedestrian bridge to platform A and via a ramp down to the corner of another large parking lot, that is accessible from Fairview Avenue/Atterbury Drive. The station is listed as ADA accessible by the LIRR but a passenger needing step-free platform access who wasn’t being met at the station and for example was parking and riding by themselves would face a nearly half-mile walk to get between the two platforms using the local road network (not all the side streets have sidewalks) since the pedestrian bridge isn’t wheelchair accessible if they left from platform A on their journey and arrived back at platform B. This means the station doesn’t meat the full definition of ADA accessible.
All Photos: November 12, 2014
