MINEOLA, N.Y. — The second section of the Long Island Railroad’s Third Track project is now in operation.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced the 2.5-mile segment between the Merillon Avenue station in Garden City Park and the Mineola station began handling trains on Tuesday, Aug. 30. This joins the 3-mile, Queens Village-Merillion Avenue portion of the 9.8-mile project that opened earlier in the month [see “News photos: Operations begin …,” Trains News Wire, Aug. 16, 2022].
“Just two weeks after opening the first section of the Third Track, we’re celebrating the next step in the MTA’s historic, multi-billion dollar investment into the Long Island Rail Road,” MTA CEO Janno Lieber said in a press release, while LIRR Interim President Catherine Rinaldi said the latest extension “means customers along the Ronkonkoma, Port Jefferson/Huntington and Oyster Bay branches will see faster and more reliable service.”
Along with the additional main line, Mineola elements of the project include elimination of two grade crossings, completion of a parking garage, and replacement of a substation and generator.
While the headline is correct concerning the location, the description under the photo is wrong. This is near Merillion Avenue, not Marillion Avenue.
“A Long Island Railroad train changes tracks…”. You mean the train is taking the diverging route/crossing over from Tk X to Tk Y (I do not know the LIRR’s track designations and funny enough openrailwaymap.org is proving to be no help with that). “Changes tracks” is not how we railroaders active or retired talk. Trains writers should do better. Also, a map of the route between Queens Village/Queens Interlocking and Mineola (Nassau Interlocking) would have been helpful