Long Island short line terminal set to open
Written by William C. Vantuono, Editor-in-ChiefBrookhaven Rail Terminal (BRT), a partnership of Long Island and upstate New York business interests, and US Rail of NY, LLC (USRNY), a licensed short line railroad operator, on Tuesday will celebrate the grand opening of Brookhaven Rail Terminal, located in Yaphank, N.Y.
The partnership claims the $40 million terminal, funded with private capital , is Long Island’s first multimodal freight rail facility in recent times, and will change “the way Long Island’s freight moves and creating an unprecedented economic opportunity.
“Until now, freight movement on Long Island has been handled almost exclusively by truck,” the partnership said in a statement. “Reductions in vehicle weights over New York [City area] bridges effectively have doubled the number of trucks required to haul the same amount of freight. BRT represents a significant step in lowering the cost of shipping goods to and from Long Island, reducing long haul truck traffic, creating an enhanced short haul trucking industry with smaller more efficient trucks, increased local jobs and reducing air emissions and reliance on foreign oil supplies.”
Brookhaven Rail Terminal is projected to handle approximately one million tons of freight per year by 2016, which translates into taking 40,000 trucks off area roads and bridges, the partnership said.
US Rail of NY, LLC is a subsidiary of Toledo, Ohio-based US Rail Corp., which also operates short lines in Ohio and Indiana.
