Belmont Stakes Day (June 7)

[Wallyhorse]

I know it's early, but:

With anywhere from 125-150,000 expected to be at Belmont Park for Big Brown's attempt at the Triple Crown in the Belmont Stakes on June 7, it occured me to ask about any possible service changes that day, in particular on the E, F and J lines since those three are the main feeders to buses that then take riders out to Belmont (Q110 from the E/J at Jamaica Center, Q2 and N6 from the F at 179th). I do know if it were up to me, I would cancel any changes that weekend and go with normal service on those lines as well as the 7.

[Kamen Rider]

most of the kind of people who would be going there that day, if they use the MTA, would be on the LIRR.

[Wallyhorse]

most of the kind of people who would be going there that day, if they use the MTA, would be on the LIRR.

Not in recent years:

Especially with the Triple Crown on the line, if you don't have a seat and want to get a good spot at Belmont, you have to get there when the gates open at 8:00 AM, LONG before the first LIRR train to Belmont, which is not until around 10:00 AM. When I last did Belmont Day in 2005, even though the TC was not on the line, the subway-bus combo was packed even at 7:30-8:00 in the morning.

Further, because of safety concerns, on big days they now restrict access to the LIRR platform going back, and if you want to take the LIRR back, you may have to wait as long as 1-2 hours to get to the platform, especially if it's a year like this where the TC is on the line. That has also led to a severe increase in alternate routes to Belmont Park, which is why it is essential to make sure there are no alterations that Saturday even if they have to cut back scheduled weekend outages to Sunday only or postpone such to the following weekend.

[MACTRAXX]

Wallyhorse and all: Another way of getting to Belmont is walking from Queens Village after getting off the LIRR Hempstead Branch train-from Penn Station and Flatbush Avenue the $3.25 City Ticket would apply on that Saturday. That walk S and E to Hempstead Turnpike and Belmont is perhaps a mile or a little less. As for buses to access the Subway,the Q1 starts at QV and goes to Jamaica to make Subway connections there. It beats the crowds using the LIRR Belmont Station or using buses on Hempstead Turnpike after the Belmont Stakes race and it surely beats driving there!
MACTRAXX

[Wallyhorse]

MacTraxx:

Thanks for the alert on the Q1. I should look into the that for those I know that may be going out that way (and yes, I knew about the City Ticket).

I was thinking about the overwhelming majority of people who would likely be using the subway-bus combo is not using the LIRR, wanting to know of any service alterations that weekend. I do know if I were heading NYRA, I'd be making a specific request to the MTA to suspend all G.O.'s except on line that do not feed the E, F or J trains at all on June 7 for obvious reasons.

[b&p rupture]

LIRR should probably increase their service to triple crown levels.

And what's going on that causes the long wait to get to the platform after the races?

[Gerry6309]

LIRR should probably increase their service to triple crown levels.

They do, normal service is two trains out and back. One from NYP and one from Jamaica for late arrivals and early bailouts. Jun 7 is about ev. 20 min. from NYP up to 2:00 PM. There are probably trips from Brooklyn too.

Every departing train out of Belmont has to cross over several tracks at Queens Interlocking, fouling the Main Line & Hempstead Branch. With the exception of the switch off the Hempstead Branch(Queens Intlk.), all switches at Belmont are hand thrown. The trains crawl until they clear the Queens Plant.

[Wallyhorse]

And I know that all too well with the interlocking, which is going to have to be greatly updated (with two tracks instead of one over the bridge and with one track leading to the tracks going towards Jamaica), especially if Belmont Park becomes a "racino" in the next few years.

Anyway, I have in fact posted on the site a (hopefully) near-complete guide of how to get to Belmont park using a combination of subway and bus (finishing on the E/J to the Q110 or the F to the Q2/N6), which can be seen at:

http://www.cybersheet.com/belhowto.html

I've also included the Queens Village option on this.

If I'm at the MTA, I cancel ALL G.O.'s scheduled for June 7 to accomodate people traveling to Belmont Park to ensure everyone who wants to go to Belmont Park can do so.

Edited to add: It looks like according to the MTA site, the J train will be on a G.O. on June 7 (but not on June 8), only running to Crescent Street with shuttle bus service from there.  This to me is something if I were at The New York Racing Association I would be specifically asking the MTA to suspend on 6/7 because of the sheer number of people that are going to be at Belmont Park on Belmont Stakes Day (expected as long as Big Brown's hoof heals as expected and he starts to be 150,000 as of now), with the J running it's normal route that day so those coming from Brooklyn can get to Belmont Park without having to go through Manhattan more easily.