Passenger Trains > "LIRR promoting 3rd track plan, listed for Fed. funds"

Nov. 15 news from RAILWAY TRACK & STRUCTURES Magazine:
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LIRR promoting third-track plan, listed for federal funds

A pair of options for the Long Island Rail Road's plan to establish a third track along a 10-mile stretch of its main line will be unveiled at a series of public hearings this spring, agency president Helena Williams said, according to local newspaper reports. While stressing the controversial project's importance to improving service and reliability on the railroad, Williams departed from previous railroad officials' contention that a growing number of reverse commuters is one of the primary reasons for an additional track. While a third track could help accommodate more reverse commuters, Williams said the track would mainly benefit a much greater number of traditional commuters.

The project has generated opposition from some local communities with properties that the LIRR would need to encroach upon or take entirely, but Williams said they have worked to reduce the number affected.

In another story, New York's two senators said November 14 that the final version of a federal appropriations bill, which is now headed to the full U.S. House and Senate for votes in those chambers, includes $215 million for a $6.3-billion project to connect LIRR with Grand Central Terminal by 2014.

The bill also includes $170 million for a $3.4-billion phase of the Second Avenue subway between 125th Street and Hanover Square, Senators Hillary Clinton and Chuck Schumer said. The entire project is slated for completion in 2020.

The LIRR's East Side Access plan will run up to 24 trains during peak hours in and out of Grand Central Station inn New York City. The Second Avenue subway will help ease crowding on the 4, 5 and 6 lines on Manhattan's East Side, carrying 600,000 people each day.