STB issues draft environmental report on proposed NY short line

The Surface Transportation Board’s Office of Environmental Analysis (OEA) is seeking comments on its draft environmental assessment for Townline Rail Terminal LLC's proposed construction and operation of a new rail line in Suffolk County, New York.

The draft environmental assessment examines the potential environmental and historic impacts of approximately 5,000 feet of new rail line that would connect to the MTA Long Island Rail Road’s (LIRR) Port Jefferson Line.

Comments are due Feb. 5.

The proposed line would provide rail service to industrial businesses in Smithtown, New York. CarlsonCorp Inc. established Townline in 2021 to be a common carrier railroad. The proposed 5,000-foot line would connect and run parallel to the existing LIRR mainline. The proposed line would add two daily New York and Atlantic Railway (NYA) trains (one roundtrip) to the LIRR system five days a week. NYA is a short line that runs freight-rail service on the LIRR mainline in conjunction with LIRR passenger operations in New York’s Suffolk, Nassau, Kings and Queens counties.

NYA operates more than 270 miles throughout the LIRR network and maintains selected sidings and tracks designated exclusively for freight service. If the proposed rail line is authorized by the STB and implemented, Townline would interchange its rail traffic with NYA, which would then move the commodities off Long Island by rail, according to the draft EA.