Suburban rail and Second Ave.
To The Editor:
Re “Debating L.I.R.R. – link options” (news article, Feb. 6-12):
Transit planning 101 says that Federal law will make it impossible for subway service and the AirTrain or L.I.RR. to share track in the Montague or Cranberry St. tunnels – not to mention the plan steals capacity from Brooklyn and Queens.
The mayor’s and governor’s goals for a one-seat ride from Lower Manhattan to Long island and J.F.K. are admirable but why are they focused on helping only Long Island and J.F.K. users reach Lower Manhattan and excluding the rest of N.Y.C. and the northern and western suburbs?
A true regional rail plan should take a fresh look at the existing 2,100 miles of commuter rail track that is already operating throughout the city and the region and is currently moving ? of a million riders daily (between L.I.R.R., Metro-North and N.J. Transit).
If only one tunnel can be built for Lower Manhattan, it will likely be for the Second Ave. subway. Focus should be on the projected weak ridership numbers for this line and we can bolster that ridership by building it with commuter trains instead.
You do not have to give up anything for Manhattanites by designing the line for commuter trains instead of the subway. In fact, you can open up commuter rail service that is currently – from a city dweller’s point of view – limited in its access. With MetroCard, you can create legislation that preserves the integrity of the subway fare for the Second Ave. line in Manhattan, but once trains run out on the rest of the commuter rail system – commuter rail tariffs take over.
Linking Second Ave. to the L.I.R.R., Metro-North and N.J. Transit will allow you to reach all three major suburban areas, better serve eastern Queens and the Bronx and provide one-seat access to all three area airports. Additionally, imagine, if you will – a 6 a.m. train departing Union Station in Washington and South Station in Boston destined for Wall St.
This is what we can do if we use commuter rail as the foundation for regional rail plan. The time has come for N.Y.C. to learn from Paris and Munich and create a more seamless rail system. We can also look at our own interstate highway system for a successful regional and national transportation system. The time has come for N.Y.C. to set an example and create the foundation of an interstate rail system by building rail expansion in a way that is regional and seamless.
Bob Previdi
Philadelphia, Penn.
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