Austin Corbin, the head of a syndicate of Boston and London capitalists, became the President of the Long Island Railroad in 1880, as has been mentioned. He was, perhaps, the greatest president the railroad had up to that time. During his regime, not so many miles of track were added to the system, but the improvements which he made in its physical condition, are apparent even to the present day.
     At this time Austin Corbin controlled the Brooklyn & Montauk Railroad, which was being operated under lease by the Long Island Railroad. In 1881 the Brooklyn & Montauk extended its line eastward from Patchogue to Moriches Station (now Eastport) on the Sag Harbor Branch of the Long Island. This made a continuous line along the South Shore from Long Island City to Sag Harbor.
     When Austin Corbin took charge of the railroad, it was in very poor condition. The roadbed was bad and unsafe, the ties widely spaced, the right-of-way so overgrown that it seemed it had never been cleared since the original construction. The only good track was between Long Island City and Long Beach, the North Side Division to Whitestone junction, and from Jamaica to Hicksville. There were many iron rails in the track and all rails had been reduced to from five to fifteen-foot lengths. One of the first things accomplished was the replacement of as many iron rails as possible with steel rails. The steel rails between Winfield and Jamaica were torn up, and the line abandoned, the rails being needed for replacements elsewhere, as alf the trains were run over the Montauk Division or Old South Side Railroad through Richmond Hill. The rails were also torn up for several miles along Rockaway Beach and relaid with old iron rails to hold the franchise.
     The Long Beach Improvement Company, under the name of the New York & Long Beach Railroad Company, organized in 1880, built from Pearsall's Corners (now Lynbrook) to Long Beach, across Hempstead Bay, the same year. In 1881 the Long Beach Marine Railway Company built five miles farther east to Point Lookout. The only station between Pearsall's and Long Beach was at East Rockaway.

When the line had been removed, the Brooklyn & Jamaica Railroad went into the hands of the Brooklyn Central & Jamaica Railroad in 1860, this being the consolidation of the steam line with a local street railway system in Brooklyn. Street cars were operated to East New York, which was the terminus of the Long Island steam trains. In 1866 it became known as The Brooklyn & Jamaica Railway Company, but in 1872 it was sold to The Atlantic Avenue Railroad Company of Brooklyn. This company leased all of the line east of Flatbush Avenue to the Long Island Railroad in 1877. The rails were relaid into Flatbush Avenue and the steam service resumed during that year. The City of Brooklyn was glad to be again connected with the rest of Long Island by a steam railroad, and the company was glad to extend the service.
     The main part of the service into Brooklyn consisted of the so called "Rapid Transits." These trains consisted of two light cars drawn by a small locomotive. They started from East New York and carried passengers into Brooklyn for a five cent fare, the journey being accomplished in twenty minutes. This slow time was due to the fact that the trains stopped at almost every important street corner, where were located open wooden platforms for the accommodation of the passengers. Such stops were made at Vanderbilt Avenue, Underhill Avenue, Grand Avenue, Bedford Station (Franklin Avenue), Nostrand Avenue, Brooklyn Avenue, Schenectady Avenue, Utica Avenue, Rochester Avenue, Ralph Avenue, Rockaway Avenue, Alabama Avenue, Wyckoff Avenue and Cypress Avenue. The service was later extended to Woodhaven and finally to Jamaica, though an extra five cents was charged for any ride past East New York. Besides these rapid transit trains the trains from far points on the Island also came into Flatbush Avenue Station. In 1876 77 the line was double tracked to Woodhaven, and in 1882 to Jamaica.

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