MTA Begins Study of Passenger Service along Bay Ridge Freight Line

[Thirdrail7]

If this goes through, they might want to consider running it over the Hell Gate Bridge into the Bronx and linking up with the planned Metro-North station at Oak Point.

https://bklyner.com/mta-begins-study-of-passenger-service-along-bay-ridge-freight-line/

Today the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) announced that it has awarded a $1.3 million contract to engineering firm AECOM, who will work with subcontractor WSP to begin studying the feasibility of initiating passenger service to a freight-only rail line, be it the subway, commuter rail or light rail, or even bus service.

Regional Plan Association has been proposing and advocating for what is known as the Triboro Line in its plans for how to improve mobility across the region for years. <snip>


New transit service could offer potential connections or transfers to intersecting subway lines and the LIRR. The line is nearly 16 miles long and runs from the New York Harbor waterfront to Astoria via Midwood, East New York, Brownsville, Bushwick, Glendale, Middle Village and Elmhurst. It crosses or nears 19 subway lines and the Long Island Rail Road.

 

[adamj023]

I am not against rail or subway, but bus is totally ineffective for mass transit and is a miserable way to travel yet seems too widely available.

This project sounds similar to the project to reactivate the former Rockaway branch where they funded studies to do a park as well as future rail use. It is all talk and no action for years now even with studies on both sides already done. I expect a study will be done which will take time then it will have more studies done over time and sit in limbo for years.

With that being said, this would make sense for the LIRR to add a Bay Ridge branch in addition to the Atlantic branch in brooklyn. Jamaica station only added new platforms for the Atlantic branch service so I would make the Bay Ridge branch require a connection and be a stop on the Atlantic line as the first phase of the project, after that you can use the line for additional connections and as a way to connect to other lines elsewhere. The Bay Ridge line in addition to Atlantic makes sense as Brooklyn population is huge and having another terminal would definitely make transit much better.

 

[Thirdrail7]

While I do not necessarily agree with your general stance on buses, I am forced to agree with your stance on buses for this particular scenario. This is no place for a bus. If the plan is to link on these lines and provide a new route, I'm struggling to think of anything other than a rapid transit operation. It needs to be a high-frequency operation.