Workers on Aug. 27 began installing the first sections of rail on the Long Island Rail Road $388 million Double Track Project, which will build a second track over an 18-mile stretch between Farmingdale and Ronkonkoma stations.
Construction of an uninterrupted second track between Farmingdale and Ronkonkoma has been part of the LIRR's vision for decades, say Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials. The railroad is an MTA unit.
With design of the full project moving ahead, the first phase of construction got under way last year with workers clearing the path for four miles of new track between Ronkonkoma and Central Islip.
The budget for the project design and this first section of track is $138 million, funded in the MTA's 2010-2014 capital program. Phase 2 of the Double Track Project will extend the second track another 12.6 miles to Farmingdale, a goal the LIRR hopes to reach by 2019.
The $250 million second-phase cost is included in the MTA's proposed 2015-2019 capital program, which still needs the approval of a state review panel.
"The MTA is investing billions of dollars in this and other LIRR infrastructure improvements and using an innovative design-build process that gets the job done faster," said authority chairman and CEO Thomas Prendergast.
Ridership on the LIRR's Ronkonkoma Branch is above 48,000 each weekday and has doubled over the last 25 years, rising in popularity since the line was electrified in 1988.
