LIRR Second Track Between Ronkonkoma and Farmingdale; Senator Boyle Applauds Jobs and Commuter Service Project Brings

Senator Phil Boyle joined LIRR President Helene Williams at the Ronkonkoma train station to announce the opening of the “Double Track” Information Center.  The Main Line between Farmingdale and Ronkonkoma, which spans 17.9 miles, currently has 5.3 miles of double track. Under the project, a second track will be added to the remaining 12.6 miles of single, electrified track along the Main Line.

Senator Phil Boyle said:  “I applaud both the economic development and commuter service this project brings to Suffolk and Nassau Counties.  Hundreds of construction jobs will be created over the next five years.  Commuters will ultimately have more frequent train service and reliability on one of the LIRR’s busiest branches.  I commend Senators Fuschillo, Johnson and Zeldin, as well as LIRR president Helena Williams for working out the details to speed the start of this project.”

Adding this new second track will greatly benefit commuters on the Ronkonkoma Branch by improving service reliability, increasing on-time performance, and enabling faster recovery following service disruptions. The Ronkonkoma Branch is one of the LIRR’s most crowded branches, with the highest number of customers per train on peak trains, reverse-peak trains, and weekends.

In addition to the jobs and economic activity generated by the project itself, the second track is also a critical component to other current and proposed transit oriented developments along the branch which would help promote additional economic development and activity. Along with the Republic/Route 110 Corridor project, the second track project is also critically important to both the Wyandanch Rising and the Ronkonkoma Hub developments.