Soil work, track inspection will delay some LIRR trains

Written by jrood

MTA Long Island Rail Road train service between Babylon and Speonk, N.Y., will be suspended for the weekend of April 24-25 so LIRR workers can restore a stretch of track replaced last year to allow National Grid to conduct an environmental cleanup of the area under the track just west of Bay Shore Station.

Last October, LIRR forces
temporarily relocated approximately 1,000 feet of each of the two main tracks
along with LIRR communication cables and poles to an area about 60 feet north
of their former location.

The National Grid work
included removal of soil contaminated by a manufactured gas plant operation
that had previously been located in the area. National Grid is paying for the
track relocation and soil remediation work. The project is being carried out
with the approval of the New York State Department of Environmental
Conservation.

Train service on the LIRR
West Hempstead Branch will be affected as rails are inspected by the Sperry
Rail Car between Valley Stream and West Hempstead April 20. Four midday trains,
two eastbound and two westbound, between 9:21 a.m. and 2 p.m. will be replaced
by buses.

The Sperry Rail Car, a
bright yellow vehicle fitted with ultrasonic and induction test equipment, is
designed to detect internal rail defects not readily visible to the eye.
Defects that are found will be corrected immediately by a crew of LIRR track
maintenance workers. The Sperry Rail Car is used twice a year to inspect
approximately 500 miles of LIRR track.

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