(Bloomberg News circulated the following story by Chris Dolmetsch on October 17.)
NEW YORK — The Long Island Rail Road expects to spend up to $387.2 million to speed trains through Jamaica Station as it prepares to extend its service to Grand Central Terminal.
About 90% of LIRR trains travel through Jamaica, the railroad’s second-busiest station after Penn Station. Yet the basic layout hasn’t changed since it was built in 1913, three years after Penn Station opened, railroad President Helena Williams said.
Currently, trains must reduce speeds to as slow as 15mph and move from one track to another at Jamaica, which may impede the LIRR’s ability to send trains into Grand Central during rush hour, Williams said.
“It’s the throat, and that’s the problem – the throat is too narrow,” Williams said yesterday after a meeting of the Long Island Committee of the state Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which operates the railroad.
“The level of frustration we get from our customers in regard to that slow crawl through Jamaica is something we need to address.”
The $6.3 billion East Side Access project would relieve congestion at Penn Station, the busiest U.S. train hub, and cut about 45 minutes a day off the commute of about 150,000 riders who work on Manhattan’s East Side.
The LIRR plans to ask companies to submit bids for a two-year study of alternatives for Jamaica that probably will cost about $7.2million, Williams said.
A subsequent design phase would last about 18 months and cost $15 million to $30 million, and construction probably would cost about $200 million to $350 million and be finished in 2014 – about the same time East Side Access is scheduled to be completed, she said.
Jamaica Station’s platforms, overpasses, waiting rooms and auxiliary facilities were rebuilt as part of the construction of the AirTrain to Kennedy Airport, but the LIRR tracks at the station are a maze of switches and crossings built in the early 20th century, Williams said.
“Ten of our 11 branches run through Jamaica, yet it’s a bottleneck,” said Gerard Bringmann, chairman of the Long Island Rail Road Commuter’s Council, which advises the railroad on passenger concerns. “Even though it’s the hub, it’s a bottleneck and really slows things down.”
The railroad wants to increase the number of trains that can travel through the station to 100 an hour from about 79 an hour by adding a platform, straightening the tracks, reducing the number of crossovers and lengthening existing platforms, Williams said.