Staten Island Railway repair project underway

MTA New York City Transit (NYCT) has begun a $105 million project to rehabilitate Staten Island Railway's St. George Terminal interlocking, which was damaged during Hurricane Sandy in October 2012.

Work began Sept. 26 and is continuing through the end of November.

In 2014, LK Comstock was awarded a contract to rehabilitate the terminal, which serves as the main passenger connection to the Staten Island Ferry. The project calls for modernizing and replacing St. George Interlocking track and signal systems, along with rehabilitating the tower that controls train movement in and out of the terminal, NYCT officials said in a news release.

Crews also will install new track ballast, construct a new third rail system, and replace 12,000 feet of tracks and 13 turnouts.

Additionally, NYCT will carry out resiliency measures, such as raising all signals from 24 to 73 inches above the roadbed and using a raised platform for battery and generator enclosures.

The project is aimed at restoring and rebuilding damaged infrastructure while reducing the system's vulnerability in the event of future severe weather, NYCT officials said.

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has allocated nearly $3.8 billion in funding for Hurricane Sandy-related repair, resiliency work and disaster relief.