LIRR's freight rail provider gets $6.7M for environmental upgrades

A $6.5 million federal grant will help the LIRR’s freight rail provider reduce its carbon footprint through Long Island, officials said.

Glendale, Queens-based New York & Atlantic Railway announced Wednesday that it had been awarded a $6.5 million Federal Railroad Administration grant to upgrade four diesel locomotives to meet the strictest Environmental Protection Agency standards for carbon emissions, known as Tier 4.

New York & Atlantic President Marlon Taylor said in a statement the planned upgrades represent "a major step toward our goal of a 100% green fleet by 2030 and our commitment to improving air quality and supporting healthier conditions for the neighborhoods along the rail corridor."

In announcing the grant recipients, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the selected projects "will tangibly improve lives for millions of Americans."

In 1997, New York & Atlantic entered into a 20-year contract to operate on the Long Island Rail Road’s tracks, hauling freight throughout Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island. Despite federal officials raising concerns about New York & Atlantic’s safety record, the LIRR in 2016 granted the company a 10-year contract extension that is set to expire next year.

Upgrading the four 1970s-era diesel locomotives will cost about an $10.9 million, according to Taylor. The freight rail company and the state will help fund the improvements, which should begin next year, Taylor said. The upgrades should result in a 90% reduction in nitrogen oxide and an 85% reduction in particulate matter, as well as a 15% reduction in fuel use, Taylor said.

The upgrades will be made to four locomotives that New York & Atlantic purchased from the LIRR. Freight rail safety advocacy group Civics United for Railroad Environmental Solutions, or CURES, has for years pressed New York & Atlantic and the LIRR to invest in more environmentally friendly locomotives.

CURES co-founder Mary Parisen on Wednesday called the awarding of the grant "wonderful," although she’d prefer the locomotives remain owned by the LIRR, as they are being publicly funded.

Parisen said the Tier 4 locomotives will be a major improvement from the 50-year-old polluting diesels that have been causing "such damage" to New York’s air for decades.

By Alfonso A. Castillo

alfonso.castillo@newsday.com@alfonsoreports

Alfonso Castillo has been reporting for Newsday since 1999 and covering the transportation beat since 2008. He grew up in the Bronx and Queens and now lives in Valley Stream with his wife and two sons.