LIRR To Acquire Land for Third Track at Port Washington
Written by Jennifer McLawhorn, Managing Editor
MTA
NEW YORK CITY - The Long Island Rail Road is currently in the process of acquiring land for a third track at Port Washington Station.
According to a report in The Island 360, LIRR President Rob Free stated the third track would “bolster service,” after speaking to commuters. Free said, “We’ve met with them and we’ve explained to them what our intentions are and to show that this would benefit the community.”
In July, the LIRR and the Town of North Hempstead entered into a “memorandum of understanding” after a unanimous vote from the town to enter the agreement. This began the process to acquire the land for the third track. With this step completed, the LIRR is now able to conduct studies on the land’s use. MTA CEO Janno Lieber said, “Once we know that we have the real estate, that’s when we can start to design the yard expansion if and when we get the real estate.”
According to the report, there are 4.5 miles of single track between Great Neck and Port Washington, thereby limiting the number of trains that can run on this segment. With the area “under discussion,” this future yard capacity would provide more service and area to store additional trains. Previously, the plan was “for the third track to be established before East Side Access to bring the LIRR to Grand Central Station was opened, but an agreement could not be reached.” With the increase in ridership in the area by 16.9%, an additional track would help with congestion.
LIRR President Free went on to say that it has “done an incredible job mitigating that throughout the system, and this advancement of this project would drastically help service on the Port Washington Branch, which has some of the best service in our operation already.” As for what’s next, the 2025-2029 capital plan will be released in the coming week and will include the MTA’s future plans.
