Construction underway at Brookhaven Rail Terminal

Construction began in Yaphank, N.Y., on Long Island's first intermodal freight rail terminal, a private venture that promises to make freight shipping more efficient in the region. Executives at Brookhaven Rail Terminal and US Rail Corp., who have partnered on the $22 million venture, were joined by elected officials at a ceremonial groundbreaking Tuesday, according to a report in The North Shore Sun. The facility, off Sills Road just south of the Long Island Expressway, will remove thousands of trucks from area roads and bridges every year, reducing pollution, said US Rail Corp. president Gabe Hall. An expected 50 to 60 people will be hired to construct the terminal and an additional 120 will be hired when the rail line is in operation, officials said. Freight trains will still use existing Long Island Rail Road tracks after the facility is built but, for the first time, they will have a destination where they can get off the LIRR tracks to unload and not be at the mercy of passenger train schedules. The previous arrangement also made it impossible to run full-length freight trains through Nassau and Suffolk, officials said.