At a recent forum organized by the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA, acting LIRR president Jim Dermody said that in addition to building a third track along the railroad’s main line, it was also aiming to electrify the Port Jefferson branch east of Huntington. He said the railroad would need a new yard between Huntington and Smithtown in order to offer the expanded service that electrification would enable. A consultant is looking for sites now, though one in Greenlawn was ruled out a few years ago when the community protested the idea.

According to Newsday, several commuters at the meeting urged capacity improvements on the main line east of Ronkonkoma. The third track project would run between Queens Village and Hicksville, but capacity and service is constrained east of Hicksville, where the line is a single track in places. Some longer-term MTA planning documents have included eastern main line double-tracking as a future system expansion project. 

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