10 replies to this topic

[Sloan]

Transit advocates touted a study released Monday to bolster their case for a plan to reactivate a long-abandoned Queens rail line.

But a representative of park lovers who want to see the decrepit Rockaway Beach tracks transformed into a High Line-type green space showed up at the Queens College press conference to derail their efforts.

http://www.nydailyne...ticle-1.2005965

[KevinKorell]

Second Avenue Sagas, 3/31/15:

 

Samuelsen: Reactivate the Rockaway Beach Branch ROW

 

In the circle of transit life, popular local buses lead to bus rapid transit which leads to light rail which leads to subway lines. It’s not the most cost-effective or efficient way of building a transit network, but it’s the flow of demand. Ideally, if a corridor is popular enough, we wouldn’t be watching politicians falling all over themselves to talk up a bus lane and instead we would go straight to the highest-capacity, highest-speed transit option. Could this play out along the Woodhaven Boulevard corridor?

 

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[Sloan]

 

 

New York Assemblyman wants MTA to look into reactivating rail spur


 

New York Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder (D - Howard Beach) has called on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) to apply for funds from a recently-announced New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) infrastructure grant to fund a comprehensive feasibility study into reactivation of the abandoned Rockaway Beach rail spur.

http://www.rtands.co...nt=Full Article

[KevinKorell]

Second Avenue Sagas, 4/4/16:

MTA to study transportation options for Rockaway Beach Branch, SI West Shore lines

As the dust from last weeks perfectly opaque New York state budget process continues to settle, we are learning more and more about what various neighborhoods are getting out of the plan, and so far the winner seems to be studies for future plans. Two contested corridors Queens Rockaway Beach Branch line and Staten Islands West Shore line will undergo MTA-led feasibility studies for reactivation plans that have been percolating for years.

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[CNJRoss]

Curbed New York, 10/9/19

 

MTA says billions needed to revive old Rockaway LIRR track

 

A preliminary study outlines the barriers and costs associated with reactivating a stretch of Long Island Rail Road track in eastern Queens

 

 

The MTA has released a preliminary study detailing the barriers and costs associated with reactivating a stretch of Long Island Rail Road track in eastern Queens that’s been out of use since the early 1960s—a move that would ostensibly save straphangers valuable commuting time and economically boost the historically middle-class neighborhoods surrounding it.

 

The study, first cited by The City, looks into the feasibility of reactivating the Rockaway Beach Branch for Long Island Railroad or subway use, (emphasis added) connecting commuters from Howard Beach, Queens to Midtown. 

 

SNIP 

 

The work, of course, will come at a great cost. (This is a project related to the MTA, after all.) SYSTRA Engineering, who was commissioned by the agency in October 2017 to carry out the study, estimates that it will cost $6.7 billion to reactivate the stretch as LIRR, and $8.1 billion to connect the stretch to the subway (and that doesn’t include the cost of land that would have to be acquired to complete the projects.)

 

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[KevinKorell]

Queens Chronicle, 5/13/21:

 

 

    Federal fundraising for Rockaway rail line  

 

 

Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato (D-Rockaway Park) is trying to bring some Biden infrastructure bucks to Central and South Queens to create a new rail line along an abandoned stretch of Long Island Rail Road tracks that would connect the Rockaways to western Queens and Manhattan.

 

Update

[KevinKorell]

Daily News, 8/1/21:

 

 

 

    MTA overstates cost of restoring long-abandoned Queens tracks that could speed commutes, says report 

 

 

 

A set of railroad tracks abandoned a half-century ago may be key to speeding up commutes for tens of thousands of Queens residents — but a report published last month by an advocacy group suggests the MTA has no interest in moving the project forward.

 

The latest

 

I like the idea of running subways over the old line, much like the segment from around Aqueduct Race Track/JFK Airport and the Rockaways is now by the A train.   While they would essentially extend the M train beyond its current terminus under Queens Blvd. in Forest Hills over the Rockaway Branch, interline with the A, and then take over the S Shuttle line to Rockaway Park, I think it would be better to reorganize some lines to run another route over the branch.   The M line already almost meets itself on its circuitous route from Queens to Queens via Manhattan, and this would make it even more of an unlikely route that anyone would ride end to end.

[KevinKorell]

Queens Chronicle, 8/12/21:

 

 

   Quietly moving from rail to link    

 

Near the end of 2019, in the wake of an MTA-released study that slapped an $8 billion price tag on a project to resurrect a defunct train line, QueensRail, a nonprofit group dedicated to the plan, quietly gave birth to a new proposal under a new name: QueensLink.

 

Months later Covid reared its head in the city and siderailed all talk about the rail’s future for over a year. QueensLink stayed mostly dormant.

 

Article

[KevinKorell]

New York, NY Post, 9/16/22:

 

 

   NYC converting unused train tracks into QueensWay park, a blow to hopes for new subway    

 

 

Mayor Eric Adams announced Friday that the Big Apple will spend $35 million to help convert unused train tracks in Queens into a park — a plan critics say could prevent restoring transit service to the area.

 

Here is the story.

[CNJRoss]

WPIX-TV, New York, NY 9/6/23

 

Plans move ahead for abandoned rail line in Queens

 

QUEENS, N.Y. (PIX11) — The future of the old Long Island Rail Road tracks has been discussed for years around Queens.

 

A group calling for the 3.5-mile line to be reactivated for transit and open space held a rally outside City Hall on Wednesday.

 

QueensLink has advocated for rails and trails along the stretch that connected Rego Park and the Rockaways.

 

 

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