by MattAmity90
In the mid-1960's the LIRR underwent an overhaul for the greater good. At the time, bankruptcy, an aging fleet dating to the 1930's that was modified in the early-1960's, so Gov. Rockefeller and New York State took the railroad into their own hands by forming what is now the MTA. When that occurred, legislation and bringing the LIRR to what it is today began. This resulted in a new fleet of commuter cars, elevating the rest of the Babylon Branch, the electrification of the Ronkonkoma Branch from Hicksville to said station from 1985-1988 followed by double-tracking it from KO to Farmingdale from 2015-2018, and finally the LIRR Expansion/Third Track project of the Main Line that now sees 3 tracks in service along the busiest 10-miles of railroad on the system that were opened in 3 phases. East Side Access should be completed in a few months, but there is one project that also kicked off that doesn't get a closer look. This would be the electrification project that extended electrified service from Mineola to Hicksville and Huntington from 1968-1970, in fact we are approaching 52 years since that project was completed. Few key bullet points on this project:
1.) First electrification project since the Babylon Branch in 1925.
2.) Added Cold Spring Harbor and Huntington to the short list of stations in Suffolk County that sees electric service.
3.) Alleviated the stress of storing EMU's on side tracks between Mineola and East Williston.
4.) Increased the amount of commuters especially at Hicksville, plus making Hicksville a termination point for trains.
5.) Unfortunately, it was still single-tracked from AMOTT to just West of Huntington (would be modified in the mid-1980's) and spelled the end for Landia.
What I want to do, and if you are willing, is to discuss or point out how the project went compared to other electrification projects, if they opened them in phases, and were they considering other additions that didn't get kickstarted in the process?
1.) First electrification project since the Babylon Branch in 1925.
2.) Added Cold Spring Harbor and Huntington to the short list of stations in Suffolk County that sees electric service.
3.) Alleviated the stress of storing EMU's on side tracks between Mineola and East Williston.
4.) Increased the amount of commuters especially at Hicksville, plus making Hicksville a termination point for trains.
5.) Unfortunately, it was still single-tracked from AMOTT to just West of Huntington (would be modified in the mid-1980's) and spelled the end for Landia.
What I want to do, and if you are willing, is to discuss or point out how the project went compared to other electrification projects, if they opened them in phases, and were they considering other additions that didn't get kickstarted in the process?
This is the train to (NYC). Stopping at: Babylon, Lindenhurst, Copiague, Amityville, Massapequa Park, Massapequa, Seaford, Wantagh, Bellmore, Merrick, Freeport, Baldwin, Rockville Centre, Lynbrook, Valley Stream, Jamaica, Kew Gardens, Forest Hills, Woodside, Penn Station OR Grand Central.