By Matt Hampton
At a meeting on May 19, officials announced that Penn Station to Belmont service could return to Belmont the week before the Belmont Stakes, and continue for the remainder of the racing season. When the service was canceled last moth, Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials said that trains would still run the weekends of May 30 and June 6 � the latter the date of the last event of horse racing�s Triple Crown � which are traditionally well-attended weekends at the track. Now service stands to be fully restored, pending approval by the MTA board, starting May 28.
�We�re delighted to be able to restore this service,� LIRR President Helena Williams said in a statement. �The LIRR has provided train service to Belmont since 1905. On Stakes Day and during the season, the LIRR is the best way to get to this beautiful park to enjoy thoroughbred horse racing.�
Belmont Park service was the first and only cut � of many that were threatened � that the MTA actually followed through with. It was eliminated on April 29, the day the racetrack opened for the season. Since then, race enthusiasts have been forced to drive, or in some cases use shuttle bus service from the Queens Village LIRR station on Hempstead Turnpike.
With the restoration of service, trains will run twice a day from Penn Station to the park, and two trains will run back into Manhattan, according to a LIRR spokesman. Fares will remain the same until the scheduled June 17 hike, when the price will rise along with the cost of all other MTA travel. A round-trip ticket from New York City to the racetrack will increase from $11 to $12. Race fans who purchase a �Belmont Special� can use their tickets as coupons to receive $1 discounts on the park�s $2 entrance fee, a special offer LIRR arranged with the New York Racing Association in an effort to soften the blow of the fare hike.
LIRR spokeswoman Susan McGowan said in an interview last month that trains to Belmont Park � which run only during racing season � are among the most lightly used of the LIRR�s special services. Roughly 100 people ride trains to and from Belmont Park on an average race day, according to McGowan, and providing them costs the LIRR $112,000 a year, she said.
On the day of the Belmont Stakes, however, ridership can increase to as much as 30,000. Eighteen trains will be in service throughout the day on June 6, operating with normal fares.
Local leaders have designed a rehabilitation plan for Elmont that focuses on turning Belmont Park into a tourist destination. Attracting a steady stream of visitors is crucial to the plan.
Assemblyman Tom Alfano (R-Franklin Square), who has helped coordinate alternative transit for Belmont patrons since service was eliminated, said he was thrilled by the LIRR�s announcement. �This is great news for Belmont, Elmont and Floral Park,� Alfano said. �Cutting service to the track was the wrong decision. This decision sets the stage to start a successful economic development plan to create jobs and revitalize the [Hempstead] Turnpike corridor. Train service was a critical part of this plan, and having it restored is a home run for our community.�
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