Light Rail on Long Island: Could it work? Where to put it?

[sean sean sean sean]

Originally Posted by Nexis4Jersey

I doubt that , something will give.....here in Jersey there is a plan for a Light Rail network that would connect all of New Jersey's Northern Suburbs and cities using Abandoned Freight lines. You can stick Light Rail above or in the Medians of Wide Boulevards or Roads its not that hard. Light Rail attracts the average driver more then a bus , because a bus is seen as a lower class form of Transport outside NYC. In 10-20 years Traffic in the Region and on the Island will be very bad if something isn't put into motion now.

I agree with this, if it were to happen (and it's not gonna, unfortunately), the best thing to do would be to run it through areas where people could actually walk from their homes....instead of something ridiculous like driving up to the LIE to take a light rail car that runs down the middle of it. Roads can be widened, buildings can be moved back....it's not that big of a deal. We put a man on the moon I think we can figure out a way to integrate a form of transportation that has existed here on earth for almost 150 years.

I think you're right that people view it as a "more desirable" form of transportation compared to buses as well. Buses have some weird negative stigma attached to them, and on top of that the bus system on most of LI is inefficient and useless for most people. Places that have recently implemented light rail have garnered heaps of positive press and attracted jobs and commerce....I think NJ is really forward-thinking in this respect. If light rail were a part of the Lighthouse project (another thing that won't happen), that really would have been the icing on the cake....it's something that people would have really taken notice of. "Oooh look what they did out on Long Island....that's different!"

Nassau County had a very elaborate trolley system from around 1895-1925 (as well as more LIRR lines) when we had a fraction of the population, and it was connected to the Brooklyn & Queens streecar lines too. You could take it pretty much from anywhere, to anywhere....it ran through all the larger villages, and from the food of Woodcleft Canal in Freeport all the way up to Hempstead Harbor. WTF happened? Before all the baby boomers, LI was way ahead of the curve in everything. First parkways in the country, one of the first interurban streetcar lines, first (and biggest) commuter railroad, first suburbs.....now we have Outback Steakhouse.

[Buckthedog]

I agree with the statement that running anything along the LIE is a waste of time and money. The LIRR does a pretty good job of going East & West. Plus the LIE is too far north for me to drive to me helpful. A network of light-rail lines going North - South would be a boon to us all, coupled with more express service on the LIRR in both directions. Before they three-track the main line in Nassau, how about the Nations busiest commuter railroad gets a SECOND track on it's main line?

[ClarkStreetKid]

The reason why to run rail along the LIE is that the LIE goes through many business and industrial areas, the LIRR mostly goes through towns. The Ronkonkoma Branch is almost in the right place.