Nets fans and Barclays Center concertgoers need not stress about missing the last Long Island Rail Road train home from the Atlantic Terminal in Brooklyn.
That’s because the LIRR added four late-night eastbound trains from the transit hub across the street from the new venue to accomodate the 334-percent increase in ridership on the line since Barclays’ debut last September.
“Barclays Center has been every bit the draw we had anticipated it would be, creating a whole new customer stream for the LIRR,” LIRR President Helena Williams said in January.
The last train out of Brooklyn used to be at 11:55 p.m. but the LIRR added trains that ran through 12:41 p.m. after the center opened. Now, after the LIRR new schedule went into effect this week, the latest train from the Atlantic Terminal is 1:42 a.m. on weekends and 1:37 a.m. on weekdays.
That trains mark the restoration of service that was cut years prior during the MTA’s budget crunch. Four westbound trains to Brooklyn were also restored to the schedule.
The LIRR said in January that before the Barclays Center opened, an average of 990 riders to the train to the Atlantic Terminal on a typical Thursday evening and another 430 riders boarded trains leaving the station.
Those figures jumped to 3,135 and 3,835, respectively, on Thursday, Oct. 11, the first of two Barbra Streisand concerts at the center. The biggest night yet—4,852 riders to Brooklyn and 5,377 from—was Dec. 11, when the Nets hosted the Knicks for the first time as crosstown rivals.
Brooklyn-bound LIRR ridership is sure to continue to increase once the New York Islanders move to the Barclays Center from Nassau Coliseum. Big name acts on Barclays’ concert calendar next month include Alicia Keys, Green Day and Bob Seger.
