Letter: Expand Jamaica Station for LIRR
A Long Island Rail Road rider purchases a ticket from a machine at the LIRRs Jamaica Station. (Feb. 27, 2013) Credit: Newsday / John Paraskevas
The East Side Access project will provide some relief to Penn Station due to diversions to the new Grand Central Terminal Annex, but that is not the problem ["New MTA boss: LIRR won't lose spots," News, June 22].
Diversions to the annex will not reduce the number of trains moving through Penn's critical, at-capacity, interlocking switching system, unless schedules are reduced. A reduction in Penn Station schedules would seriously inconvenience Long Island Rail Road commuters, even with the reductions in crowding.
Service to the new Grand Central annex will necessarily be comparable to the LIRR's current split Brooklyn operation, potentially requiring an expanded Jamaica transfer facility.
John Fruin, Amityville
Editor's note: The writer is a retired Port Authority of New York & New Jersey transportation planner.
