Re-opening the Central Branch: What would be involved?

"However, I'm not sure that adding new lines to the LIRR is the answer to increasing ridership - simply because some people will never take the RR, regardless of how convenient it is for them. "

The point is though that people in towns like Levittown and East Meadow really don't have any choice but to drive(or take the bus).


"Truth of the matter is this - most of the people who ride the LIRR weekdays are people who are going into Manhattan. Whether it's to Penn Station, or to Flatbush where they take a subway to lower manhattan. "

We know that. What I'm trying to say though is that LIRR needs to wake up and start gearing the system more towards the intra island commuter, who makes up the vast majority of LI.


"People who work in Suffolk, Nassau, Queens and Brooklyn primarily drive - and those who work off of the island don't have a choice in the matter. A commuter is not going to take an LIRR train to Penn, change to an uptown 1 train to Times Sq, take the Shuttle to Grand Central and then hop on a MN train to get to Westchester - it's just not going to happen."

No one is suggesting they should....but just for the record, if my mom get's the Stamford job, she will be taking LIRR to NYP, then Amtrak up every day.


"It's the trucks which foul things up on the expressway, not the cars. "

Not entirely. It's mostly cars on the highways. With them being the majority, it's clear that THEY are the ones fouling things up on the expressway. It wouldn't hurt though to get some trucks off the road and onto the rails though.


Electrification aside, I think a phase by phase process of an intra-island system based around the Nassau Hub certainly is realistic.
Phase 1: Connecting trains from CLP or Garden City, via secondary to NCC
Phase 2: Build Nassau Hub loop and run trains via loop from CLP or Garden City(loop includes NCC)
Phase 3a: Rebuild line to underground station at Mineola, run trains from Mineola to loop instead of from GC or CLP.
Phase 3b: Continue underground under main line and connect with OB line. Run trains from Nassau Hub Loop to Oyster Bay instead of just Mineola
Phase 4: Double track from CLP to Hempstead and extend Bronze spur to an underground station at Merrick Av. Run trains from Hempstead to Merrick Av
Phase 5: Rebuild CLP-WH, run trains to Nassau Hub Loop from Valley Stream. (So now there are 2 lines from the hub...to Mineola and to Valley Stream).
Phase 6: Extend underground from Merrick Av to Westbury station and connect it with main line. Run trains from new park and ride at Landia
Phase 7: Rebuild CRRLI and electrify central branch. Run trains from Nassau Hub loop to Ronkonkoma and Babylon

The lines would simply extend with the expansion of electrification. An example would be once electrification reaches Patchogue, extend the Nassau Hub Loop to Babylon line to Patchogue

This would obviously be over the course of MANY years. Still, it'd provide LI with atleast some of the system that it needs.


HOV will get use if I start Island Transit, but that's about it for the future of HOV. LRT down the LIE would work well from about Hauppague to a Landia Park and Ride LIRR station

Guys there was a hearing at Antuns on the 21st in Hicksville where the railroad was laying out plans for the new third track and grade crossing elementaion . I ran into one of the P.A. guys who gave me a pamphlet on what they were planning to do . He also told me I could post comments at www.mta.info/plan . I think this Intra Nassau line should be addressed.

You might want to find somewhere else to run that link, cuz it says page not found.

NIMBY, its on the LIRR's www

jsut look around there for it.

I usta live 4 blocks north of Valley and to this day I remember the sound of steam breaking loose and being throttled back and starting over.. Loud, but I loved it.... Ed

davelirrider wrote: People who work in Suffolk, Nassau, Queens and Brooklyn primarily drive - and those who work off of the island don't have a choice in the matter. A commuter is not going to take an LIRR train to Penn, change to an uptown 1 train to Times Sq, take the Shuttle to Grand Central and then hop on a MN train to get to Westchester - it's just not going to happen.

I was going to do the reverse of this once, Becon Station to Hicksville, to move some stuff from my ex-wife's house. (I would have rented a truck in Hicksville.) It was going to take about four hours. I could drive it in about 90 minutes.

transportation is not set up to do anything but get into and out of the city, this hasta change sooner or later.. My son-in-law rides free from C.I. to the 34th (GW Bridge) pct every day, but I think it takes him about a week or so to get to work every day..

Unfortunatly they are a few other obstacles in levittown, such as a VFW hall, a fire house, and a police station...

Are those actually on the ROW? I've looked at aeriel views and it seems nothing is blocking the ROW.

Yes, the main entrence to prison is on the ROW the center of the row crosses the center of the security gate.

maby the state will run convict expresses. get some bombs n' and gennie paint them in state colors and paint the state prison symbol on them, and on the top of the bombs write convict rail. to coinside with convict air. lol

but other then that i find most obstructions being gradecrossings and the biggest is the entrece to the meadowbrook. maby that could go under the ecisting trestle. (1 in the trees)

Hey - even better - why not some ex <b>Conrail</b> engines?

Using Google Earth, I saw that the aforementioned obstacles are off to the side of the row and not really on it... Even though East meadow fire station 5 and and the NCPD 8th precient parking lots might need to be removed. The only things actually in the way are A parking lot next to the meadowbook which can be bridged when they bridge the parkway, and the jail which I think can tunneled under... Other than that, I think its easier to find the space for this, than the third track on the main line.

I've been on this board for a few years now & it's funny how this issue "Central Branch"
re-activation keeps coming up again & again.

If you look at the hand out map of LI it does seem to be a logical place to put a RxR line.
Trouble is it just ain't going to happen ... why:
1. Have we forgoten that the LIRR capital plan got shot down ?
2. To get to the old ROW that you are talking about you have to get thru Garden City.
Guess you all forgot those NIMBYs in that town have a string around Gov George's
private parts, so no freight or passengers are going to move over those tracks.
3. Those "obsticles" are real, & known by the folks in the planning dept.,
so they aren't even going to start a plan.
4. Once a piece of ground becomes a park it's gone, so there is no way in hell any kind of RxR is ever going to go there.

If you want to presist & talk about something that will never happen, fine.
Just don't get upset that not many here care about your plans.

apranly its a hot subject if it keeps comeing up again and again, maby the state need to open there minds to it again, some times what rail buffs see might be worthy to a railroad.

To a Rail Fan it's a hot topic. To a Pol. it's a dead issue.