Senator Martins Announces Unveiling of Final Design of Hicksville Train Station Renovation Project

$120 Million State Investment Includes Modernization of Station & Track Enhancements for Better Service

     Senator Jack M. Martins (R-7th Senate District) announced that New York State has publicly released the final design for the rehabilitation of the Hicksville LIRR Station. The project is a $120 million investment to revitalize the region’s busiest transit hub and kick-start residential and commercial development that could revitalize Hicksville's downtown.

     “This is a tremendous investment that will benefit both the Hicksville community and Long Island as a whole. The Hicksville station is a transit hub that serves millions of riders each year. Overhauling and upgrading the infrastructure at Long Island’s busiest train station will improve service, create jobs, and enhance the quality of life for commuters. I’m pleased to see this important project moving forward,” said Senator Martins.

     According to the MTA, Hicksville Station is the LIRR’s busiest line station with 22,000 customer trips per weekday and is also served by major NICE commuter bus routes running north and south on Route 106 and Route 107. Both Ronkonkoma Branch trains and Port Jefferson Branch trains pass through Hicksville every day as do selected Montauk Branch trains.

     “The MTA and the LIRR form an economic lifeline for Long Island, moving 81 million customers to and from New York City every year. The investment of billions of dollars for East Side Access and a hundred million dollars in a local project like Hicksville Station are prime examples of how we continue to fuel economic growth, create local employment opportunities and take Long Islanders to the high paying jobs in the city that have always been the key to prosperity in Nassau and Suffolk,” said Governor Andrew Cuomo.

     “The LIRR’s Hicksville revitalization project is a prime example of how the MTA uses its Capital Plan to benefit the people and the communities that it services. In the short term, construction means jobs. Long term, Hicksville will have a station to be proud of, improved train service and the prospect of new development that could offer property tax relief for current homeowners,” said MTA Chairman Thomas Prendergast.

     The Hicksville Station rehabilitation is budgeted at $68.7 million. The MTA will invest another $52.3 million for a less visible but equally important part of the project - the construction of the Hicksville North Track Siding, a storage track along the existing railroad right-of way that will support the LIRR’s plans for faster and more frequent service when its East Side Access Project is completed 2021. East Side Access will carry Long Islanders to Grand Central Terminal on the East Side of Manhattan for the first time.

     “We intend to carry out the construction and transform Hicksville Station without affecting weekday service. But in order to accomplish that, the work will have to be carried out mostly on weekends over the next four years. During that time, we will work closely with the Town of Oyster Bay and the Hicksville community to minimize the impact on everyday life through the area,” said LIRR President Patrick A. Nowakowski.

     The Long Island Rail Road reached Hicksville on March 1, 1837 and the current station, now more than 50 years old, is plagued by poor drainage and cracked concrete as well as elevator and escalators that are nearing the end of their useful lives.

     Project information from the MTA/LIRR:

     Hicksville Station Project Overview

     The LIRR’s plan calls for completion by the start of 2019 with a design that will almost completely recast the station with new platforms, new platform waiting rooms, new lighting, new translucent canopy roof, new stairways, elevators and escalators, a new video security system, audio and digital communications systems and new signage. MTA Arts & Design plans to enhance the station with artist-designed ceramic murals and laminated art glass.

     Hicksville North Track Siding Project

     Another improvement on tap for Hicksville is a $37.7 million project that calls for the installation of over three thousand feet of new track, power and signal work. This effort will connect Track 1 at Hicksville to an existing track siding situated about one-half mile west of the station platform. The connection will enable the LIRR to add three trains to the AM and PM Peak service between Hicksville and Manhattan when Grand Central Terminal opens to the LIRR with the completion of the East Side Access project at the end of the decade. It will also improve the Railroad's ability to reroute trains in the event of maintenance, construction or service disruptions.

     Finally, the LIRR will spend an additional $14 million to modernize the signal system at Divide Tower, located just east of Hicksville Station. Divide controls all train movement on the Huntington/Port Jefferson and the Ronkonkoma Branches east of Hicksville.

     The renderings were released after LIRR officials first showed them to local residents and civic leaders at a recent community meeting. Click below to view the renderings.