NYC Eastbound Reroute Project

The Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) is the busiest commuter railroad in North America. On a daily basis, 735 trains carry an average of more than 300,000 people over 700 miles of track on 11 branches, stretching from Montauk on the eastern tip of Long Island to Penn Station in Manhattan, approximately 120 miles away.

Founded in 1834, LIRR is a vital transit link for millions of residents and visitors, providing access to subway lines, jobs, and commerce in New York City, helping Long Island communities share in the region’s economic growth.

The New York City East Side Access Project (ESA), renamed the Grand Central Madison Project by New York State Governor Kathy Hochul, is an $11 billion mega-project undertaken by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). It was developed to decrease transit times to Manhattan’s east side and lessen Penn Station’s overcrowding, especially during rush hours. This massive development connects LIRR service to Metro-North Railroad’s Grand Central Terminal train station on Manhattan’s east side. The Eastbound Reroute (EBRR) track is one of the last parts of the ESA project at the Harold and F Interlockings, which are among the nation’s busiest. Upon completion of EBRR track construction, Amtrak trains can bypass the local LIRR trains entering Harold Interlocking when departing from Penn Station.

 The EBRR project includes: 

• Design and construction of a new grade-separated crossover and associated approach structures.
• Modification and underpinning of an intermediate multi-column pier for the existing Honeywell Street Bridge.
• Demolition of existing track work and installation of new tracks, turnouts, diamonds, and direct current (DC) traction power elements such as third rails and feeders.
• Demolition of existing and installation of new alternating current (AC) traction power elements such as the cabling, contact and messenger wires, feeder cables, and supporting structures.
• Our team is providing a full suite of design services, including civil, structural, bridge, and transit and rail systems engineering, earth sciences, and construction services. Our design encompasses a new cut-and-cover tunnel and several open-cut approach structures for the reroute track, underpinning analysis of an existing New York City Department of Transportation bridge, drainage facilities, several LIRR and Amtrak tracks and special trackwork, both AC and DC electrification, overhead contact systems, signal conduits, tunnel lighting, and communications and security. The reconfigured interlocking contains several new high-performance turnouts with moveable point frogs for four turnouts. The design developed a plan for work to be completed during planned track outages while keeping the interlocking in service. The EBRR project lies in a congested built environment, requiring detailed consideration of the interface with existing infrastructure.

Our scope of services included:   

• Cut-and-cover tunnel design.
• Open-cut retaining structure design.
• Honeywell Street Bridge underpinning modeling and analysis.
• Catenary design.
• Track design.
• Civil design.
• Traction power design.
• Communications and security.
• Tunnel lighting. 

The busiest rail interlocking in the country, Harold Interlocking is in Queens, about four miles east of Midtown Manhattan. It is an essential part of Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor, which connects Boston and New York. Previously, Amtrak had to traverse mainline tracks in Harold Interlocking, which created competition with local train services. By creating direct, conflict-free paths through Harold Interlocking, which will enable future high-speed rail on the Northeast Corridor, the project significantly reduces congestion and enhances reliability, on-time performance, and travel time for current Amtrak service.