LIRR’s Third Track: a better future 73 years in the making
Generations of rail commuters faced delays when one of the two tracks on the main trunk had a problem. Generations of New York City residents couldn’t easily take a job on Long Island because timely trains to make the reverse commute feasible remained elusive. Generations of drivers found themselves at the whim of dangerous grade crossings.
But this week, trains began to traverse the now-open 10-mile stretch of the Third Track. New schedules allow for travel in both directions. Eight grade crossings are gone.
The significance of this moment cannot be overstated. The opening of the Third Track can transform Long Island’s economy in a way few other singular projects have. Rising home values. New high-paying jobs. Growing companies. And, as Gov. Kathy Hochul emphasized, more time and opportunities for commuters.
On Monday, a host of officials, past and present, were on hand to celebrate. Several speakers, including Hochul, had little involvement in the project’s fraught approval process. But knowing the history is the only way to prepare for the future.
The LIRR Third Track project spent decades stuck in the muck of missing money, vision and support. Former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo was among the first elected officials to take it seriously, after former Greenport Mayor Dave Kapell brought him the issue. Cuomo’s persistence, combined with a small but mighty band of supporters that included Kapell, Suffolk County Chief Deputy County Executive Lisa Black, the Rauch Foundation's Nancy Rauch Douzinas and others, pushed the project forward. They wouldn’t take no for an answer — no matter how many times they heard it.