Let the Long Island RR expresses have freedom from the stops of the locals!

This WEBEO explores the possibilities of increasing the capacity on the Long Island Rail Road. The mainline, running from Floral Park to Hicksville, sees an average daily ridership of 168,900 on a two-track segment with local and express trains operating through. The capacity struggles are recognizable by most, but there has been much more debate on how the line should be upgraded.

One possibility that has frequently come up is to add a third track to the existing mainline. However, this infiltrates into tightly-packed properties along the tracks, and would necessitate the reconstruction of five stations along the line.

I have come up with a plausible alternative to the 3-track solution: to reroute the express trains onto the existing Hempstead Branch and Michel Field Secondary, before traversing under a new 3.1 mile long tunnel to the mainline just east of the Wantagh State Parkway. The local mainline and Hempstead trains will continue to operate as is. However, since the Hempstead branch sees 5x less traffic than the mainline, there is much more potential to reroute the express trains along this route.

Now granted, this may still turn out more expensive than building a third track. The final question is purely economic: Will Long Islanders be willing to pay more for a system that has less harms to the community?

By: Atharv Gupte