New York’s MTA Construction & Development and the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) have completed the major construction work on the LIRR Mid-Suffolk train yard in Ronkonkoma, Suffolk County, NY.
The project will increase future capacity and reliability for the railway as part of LIRR expansion.
“The expanded train yard, along with the third track project, grade crossing eliminations and East Side Access, are all major investments advancing rapidly and safely during the pandemic, and they will all contribute to more flexible and reliable railroad service. We are completing these projects faster than ever before, but the reality is we need help from the federal government to ensure our safety and modernisation projects like this one can continue,” Janno Lieber, President of MTA Construction & Development said.
The formerly known as the Ronkonkoma Yard, the newly expanded LIRR Mid-Suffolk train yard will provide additional space to store, maintain, inspect, service and clean the electric train cars. The yard features 11 additional tracks for a total of 22, each with capacity for a 12-car train set.
The expanded yard will enable an increase in service on the Ronkonkoma Branch during the morning rush by nearly 50 percent when East Side Access opens under Grand Central Terminal at the end of 2022. A new employee facility is now in use at the yard.
A new traction power substation, G37 powers train operations at the yard. The mega-substation was built to replace the existing G36 substation at the eastern end of the yard, which was about at the end of its useful life. A 50-foot green barrier of pine trees remain between the rail yard and public spaces.
The expanded facility is open 24 hours per day and will ultimately make travel between Long Island and New York City more reliable and comfortable for LIRR customers.
Work on the site began in July 2018 with land-clearing to make way for the new two-story 15,900-square foot employee facility, new material storage facility to the southeast of the employee facility with a new materials lay-down area located to its west.
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