Rego Park (IND Rockaway Line)

Rego Park is the northern terminal station on the IND Rockaway Line of the New York City Subway in Rego Park, Queens, located right next to the LIRR Main Line. It is served by the H train at all times. It has one side platform and one track.

History
It originally opened as part of the Long Island Railroad's Rockaway Beach Branch in 1883, and was constructed with two side platforms and two tracks, located in between the LIRR Main Line tracks. Only Rockaway Beach Branch trains stopped here, and customers who wished to use the Rockaway Beach Branch had to transfer from the LIRR Main Line at Grand Street, which was one station north and had an island platform. It was rebuilt in 1921 using wooden platforms. It closed and abandoned along with the rest of the line on June 8, 1962 due to a fire on one of the trestles over the Jamiaca Bay that was to costly to repair that occurred in 1950. The section of the line south of Ozone Park was sold to the City of New York to convert to subway use in 1952.

In 1967, the City of New York purchased the remaining part of the line north of Ozone Park due to petitions started by neighborhoods along the line that rail service needed to be restored, and was further supported by Mayor Ellery. On June 9, 1967, construction work began on overhauling the entire line for subway use and to connect it with the IND Rockaway Line south of Ozone Park.

Originally, the plan was to demolish the current Rego Park station and make a new one along the former ROW before the LIRR Main Line tracks, in order to facilitate building an elevated structure that would connect to the bellmouths of the IND Queens Blvd Line at 63rd Drive. However, this plan was scrapped due to a apartment building being built directly in front of the bellmouths, which blocked access. The plan was then changed to leave the original station and convert it into a terminal. The former northbound platform and track was abandoned (and subsequently partially demolished as a joint construction effort between the TA & LIRR), the former northbound flyover was removed, and the southbound track was re-signalled to allow it to be used as a terminal station. North of the station, the track extends about another 550 feet in order for workers to access the new sub-station, and also serves as a layup track. It reopened on November 9th, 1968, 6 months behind schedule as part of the IND Rockaway Line.

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Station layout
The rebuilt 1999 station consists of a single side platform and a single track serving trains traveling in both directions. The new, wider, station platform was built partly over the former southbound track. The large station house is built in a style reminiscent of station houses built in the World War I era on the BMT Brighton Line such as Parkside Avenue and a number of stations on the BMT Sea Beach Line.

Exit
The station has a turnstile bank, token booth, a short staircase on the south side going down to the north side of Park Place, and a long ADA-accessible ramp and staircase going to the south side of Prospect Place on the north side of the station house.