When Belmont Park’s Spring/Summer horse racing meet starts on Thursday, May 4, racing fans will benefit for the first time from massive Long Island Rail Road service increases to the racetrack made possible by the recent openings of the new Elmont-UBS Arena Station as well as Grand Central Madison and Main Line Third Track. During track hours between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m., 30 trains will serve the track on weekdays and 78 on weekends. Trains operate 365 days a year at the Elmont-UBS Arena station, helping to serve the needs of the local community in addition to sports fans.

The 216 trains operating during race hours represent a substantial service increase compared with the railroad’s previous race day service to Belmont Park, which consisted of eight trains, all from/to New York City, on weekends only.

For the first time, horse-racing fans from Long Island will be able to ride a train directly to the track without the need to change trains at Jamaica. On weekdays, all trains on the Hempstead Branch will stop at Elmont-UBS Arena. On weekends, the Hempstead Branch service is supplemented by trains to and from Huntington and Ronkonkoma. Service on all branches includes trains from Penn Station and Grand Central Madison, with transfer opportunities at Jamaica for service from Brooklyn.

Fans exiting the trains will find a free, frequent shuttle bus operated by the New York Racing Association to whisk them right to the grandstand in less than five minutes, similar to the buses that connect Islanders fans to games at UBS Arena. The Elmont-UBS Arena station is located behind the famed Belmont Park backstretch. Horses make the trip around the sweeping clubhouse turn in about 30 seconds, but humans who opt to make the trip on foot at would need about 15 minutes at a brisk walking pace to cover three quarters of a mile from platform to grandstand.

-via Press Release