Question - Main line fourth track?

I know the third track project still isn't done, but as it's marching along, I can't help but wonder, is a fourth track considered and even possible?

MattW wrote: ↑Tue Sep 07, 2021 10:20 am I know the third track project still isn't done, but as it's marching along, I can't help but wonder, is a fourth track considered and even possible?

No space.

Not in this life.

MW: A LIRR Main Line fourth track? One word: **NO**
The Main Line Third Track Project overcame decades of NIMBY opposition and delays.
There is no room whatsoever for a fourth track on a majority of the 10.1 mile route Floral Park-Hicksville.
Three tracks will give the Main Line the added capacity needed.

2022 is going to be a year of significant change in the history of the LIRR with the completion of the Third
Track Project and the opening of the long-delayed East Side Access. Expect major systemwide schedule
changes all across the LIRR when both are finished and are finally ready for service...MACTRAXX

Not only that, but we should expect some glitches in the new scheduling and routing arrangements. Same thing happened in 1970 when the Huntington electrification began and that was a smaller project. Remember these will be very big changes and there will be some trial-and-error for LIRR's planners.

I'm guessing that six months into it we'll see revised schedules and routing to tweak and fine-tune whatever snags, etc. happen in the first edition.

H-E: Look back to 1988 after the Hicksville-Ronkonkoma Electrification was completed. (1/18/1988)
There were updates made to schedules during that year as service patterns and passenger demand changed.
The ridership growth on the Ronkonkoma Branch far and away exceeded expectations.

The LIRR has only had a few major systemwide schedule changes. Two others that occurred in the 1970s were
the establishment of zone fares in January 1972 and the May 20, 1974 changes with the introduction of the
Branch Line timetables for all nine branches, the City Terminal Zone and Eastern Long Island (11 forms total).

The new schedules with ESA and 3TC that will be implemented in 2022 will be a major undertaking for the LIRR.
I agree that there will be changes as needed for the first year (or so) of the new operating plan...MACTRAXX