The Long Island Rail Road’s new Yaphank-BNL station begins service on Saturday, July 18, 2026, shifting the old Yaphank stop closer to William Floyd Parkway and Brookhaven National Laboratory. The move trades a cramped, hard-to-find platform for a fully accessible, paved stop with added parking and a bus loop. Officials held a ribbon-cutting Friday that formally retired the original Yaphank platform and set the stage for full service on Saturday.
Ribbon Cutting, First Trains And The Old Stop’s Last Day
The ceremonial first train pulled into the new Yaphank-BNL stop late Friday morning, just ahead of the ribbon-cutting that officially took the old Yaphank platform out of service. According to ABC7, the first scheduled departures from the new platform are set for 5:36 a.m. eastbound to Greenport and 8:02 a.m. westbound to Ronkonkoma on Saturday.
New Station Features And Why The Move Matters
The relocated stop sits in Shirley/East Yaphank near the Precision Innovation Park and William Floyd Parkway and includes a two-car high-level platform, a 50-space paved parking lot, a bus loop, a plaza and bike racks, according to Governor Kathy Hochul's office. Funded through the MTA capital program, the project is designed to be fully ADA-compliant and to make Brookhaven National Laboratory and nearby businesses more walkable from the rail line. Officials say the relocation should make rail a more appealing option for reverse commuters and guest researchers who currently travel to Ronkonkoma.
MTA Study Could Bring Electrification And A Second Track
MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said the agency has launched a study into upgrades east of Ronkonkoma, including the possibility of adding a second track toward Riverhead and partial electrification to support faster, more frequent service. "That would allow us to run more trains in both directions," Lieber said, as reported by ABC7. Agency officials compared the potential work to the Farmingdale Ronkonkoma double-track project that expanded service on that stretch of the Main Line.
Where It Fits In Long Island Rail History
The Yaphank-BNL stop is being billed as the second newly built LIRR station in roughly 50 years; the Elmont-UBS Arena station, which opened in 2021, was the previous new stop, according to Empire State Development. The original Yaphank platform had extremely low usage and will be retired, according to the station history on Wikipedia.
What Riders Need To Know
Riders looking for the full timetable and any service alerts can find schedules on the Long Island Rail Road section of the MTA website. The agency notes that the new study is an early step and that any electrification or double-tracking east of Ronkonkoma would require separate planning, funding and construction phases before new service patterns could take effect.
