Next phase of LIRR’s Massapequa Station improvements scheduled

Written by Jenifer Nunez, assistant editor

Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Long Island Rail Road's (LIRR) $40-million improvement project at Massapequa Station will enter its next phase August 25 with work shifting to the station's east end.

 

The project, which got underway in the spring of 2013, includes the replacement of the 12-car elevated platform, canopy, staircases, elevator and escalator, as well as the platform waiting room, lighting, public address system and signage. The railroad is adding a new pocket track just east of the station that will improve frequency and flexibility of train service. The station rehabilitation and the pocket track represent a $40-million investment, the most significant railroad improvement effort at Massapequa Station since the station was raised from street level in 1953.

The pocket track is one of several improvements the LIRR is making in anticipation of the completion of the East Side Access project, which will enable Long Islanders to travel directly to Grand Central Terminal and the East Side of Manhattan for the first time. The extra track space will begin paying immediate dividends when it becomes available in 2016, providing the LIRR with greater operating flexibility along the Babylon Branch. Following the opening of East Side Access service, the pocket track will allow the LIRR to turn trains for return trips to Penn and Grand Central Terminal without traveling out to Babylon.

The Massapequa Station project also features permanent artwork commissioned by the MTA Arts for Transit program. The station renovations are part of a multi-phase initiative to improve infrastructure and train service in Massapequa, a station that serves approximately 6,000 customers every weekday.

 

 

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