Forest Hills, a stone’s throw from 71st/Continental Ave.’s, is a LIRR station along the mainline between Penn Station/Grand Central/L.I. City, and Jamaica. Let’s look.
The station is located on an overpass over 71st/Continental Avenue in, well, Forest Hills, Queens. Located 3ft from the EFMR, this station serves trains going to/from Midtown and LIC. The station will accessible by way of ramps (it was not when I visited), and as of writing this, the platforms are being extended to accommodate 10 car trains. At present, though, only the first 4 or so cars platform. The station also has benches, wastebaskets, departure boards, all that usual stuff. Overall, though, while fancy, there isn’t too much special other than appearances. The neighborhood is so upscale, though, that there aren’t even any local buses going down 71st Avenue past the station.
The good: It’s (I think?) accessible, as of writing this post. Also, the MTA is giving the station the care it needs. Furthermore, the connection with the EFMR and various local and express buses are valuable. Also, this section to Jamaica with the LIRR is redundant to the E specifically. As for the station itself, I kinda dig the upscale vibes of it and the neighborhood.
The bad: Why did it take this long for the station to get a platform extension? A station this important should also have an indoor waiting area. Kew Gardens has(/had) one, why not here? Also, surprisingly, no bus going down 71st Avenue itself.
Nearby points of interest: Forest Hills Stadium is the big one. Other than that, same stuff as the subway stop.
Transit connections: Same as the subway stop. But I’ll list ’em anyways:
MTA subway (Lines E, F, M, R)
LIRR (Hempstead, Ronkonkoma, Far Rockaway, Babylon, West Hempstead, Long Beach, Port Jefferson)
MTA bus (Q23, Q60, Q64, Q74, QM4, QM11, QM12, QM18, QM42, QM44)
Overall, not a bad station, and rather upscale at that.
Rating: 7/10
