njt/mnrrbuff wrote: ↑Wed Jun 10, 2020 12:50 pm
Upgrade the Greenport Branch of the Main Line to handle faster speeds. This route is dead straight in many spots and the trains should be going faster than what they do out there. The stations are very spread out to out there.
The Pt. Washington Line should be three tracks to at least Great Neck. If not, then for part of the route between Great Neck and Woodside. This would help allow the MTA run more reverse peak trains on the PW Line. It would be nice to have double track east of Great Neck, at least on the viaduct. It's tough to add the second track east of the viaduct, given that the right of way is surrounded by woods.
The Montauk Line should be double track to at least Patchogue. Most of the trains don't venture past Patchogue. Maybe if there is a way to extend some more of the trains to Speonk, that would be nice.
Buff:
1-Upgrading the speed limit on the Ronkonkoma-Greenport line from
45 to 65 mph would be a good improvement where it is practical.
These are the stations on the route with mileage from LI City:
Ronkonkoma 48.5
Medford 54.1
Yaphank 58.6
Riverhead 73.3
Mattituck 82.4
Southold 90.1
Greenport 94.3
There are speed restrictions - such as the 20 mph limit through the
Riverhead area (two miles-one each on either side of Riverhead
Station due to numerous grade crossings) that can be raised to
30 mph if possible. Schedule improvements can help ridership.
2-The Port Washington Branch has a good ridership base - the top
three intermediate stations are Flushing Main Street, Bayside and
Great Neck. Much of the PW Branch is in the Borough of Queens.
Mileage from LI City:
Woodside 3.1; Elmhurst 4.7*; Mets-Willets Point 6.7; Flushing Main
Street 7.5; Murray Hill 8.4; Broadway 9.2; Auburndale 9.9; Bayside
10.8; Douglaston 12.1; Little Neck 12.7; (Queens-Nassau Co. Line
is near MP 13) Great Neck 13.9; Manhasset 15.4; Plandome 16.5
and Port Washington 18.1. *Elmhurst is a closed station that may
be revived in the future.
A third track between Woodside and Great Neck - 10.8 miles - would
be an expensive undertaking with all the new construction that would
be necessary on this route. Parts of the line - such as the Bayside cut -
is not designed for a third track addition. This would be a "luxury item"
that even though this would help it is not necessary at this point. The
only way that a third track would ever be built is it the City of New York
decided to fund this project and perhaps convert this route into a rapid
transit (Subway) line.
The Manhasset Viaduct is a "bottleneck" of sorts that unless a new
replacement viaduct is built with two tracks this will remain the same.
A three mile second track segment from Manhasset to Port Washington
would not amount to much unless the viaduct gets replaced.
3-Closing the 3.3 mile gap between Y Interlocking (east of Sayville)
and Patchogue is a perfect initial improvement for Montauk Branch
adding a second track. (Y Interlocking 50.6; Patchogue 53.9 from LIC)
Service has been improved and trains added to the Montauk Branch
between Patchogue and Speonk beginning in the 1980s. The stations
are: Bellport 57.8; Mastic-Shirley 62.3 and Speonk 71.4. which is the
end of commuting territory. Montauk is 44.4 miles east of Speonk.
MACTRAXX
.
EXPRESS TRAIN TO NEW YORK PENN STATION-NO JAMAICA ON THIS TRAIN-PLEASE STAND CLEAR OF THE CLOSING TRAIN DOORS
