Led by Suffolk County Legislator Greg Doroski, a new effort is afoot to pressure the New York State Legislature to provide funding for more train service to the North Fork.
Pictured Above: The North Fork train on its midday eastbound run through the grade crossing on Peconic Lane.
Mr. Doroski and leaders from the Southold Town and Greenport Village Boards are sending a letter to New York State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie urging the state to expand service on the Greenport Branch of the Long Island Rail Road.
There are currently just three weekday trains per day traversing the branch on the North Fork from Ronkonkoma all the way out to Greenport, and leaders here are pressing for expansion.
“Taxation without transportation is tyranny,” quipped Southold Town Supervisor Al Krupski as members of the Southold Town Board agreed to sign onto the letter on Feb. 26. “If there were more trains people could rely on, people would use the train.”
North Fork leaders have long been dissatisfied with the service in part because businesses here with large payrolls pay into the MTA Payroll Tax, which funds the Long Island Rail Road and the MTA’s other regional transportation systems. But North Forkers receive little service in exchange for those taxes.
“Typically when we hear about more service on the East End, it goes to the South Fork,” said Councilwoman Alexa Suess, who is from Greenport. “More service would be better for the environment, and for the local economy.”
“I’ve long been an advocate for adding additional rail service to Greenport and have brought this up many times in East End Mayors and Supervisors meetings, together with state representatives,” said Greenport Mayor Kevin Stuessi, who added that the state is required, under its 2019 climate justice law, to direct 35 to 40 percent of funding to “disadvantaged communities,” of which Greenport is one.
“This project would easily qualify under transportation, energy savings and reduction of automobile pollution,” he added. “I know Assemblyman Tommy John Schiavonni is an advocate for adding additional North Fork rail service, and am certain Speaker Heastie, who represents a disadvantaged community and knows eastern Long Island, would understand the need too.”
The South Fork Commuter Connection, championed by Mr. Schiavoni’s predecessor, State Assemblyman Fred Thiele, has since 2019 provided weekday service at hours that make sense for commuters, from Speonk to Montauk, with well-utilized bus connections taking workers to large employers like schools and hospitals.
“For many years the Greenport Branch has had limited service, but as New York State and our local communities look to the future, there is great potential in expanding service to the Greenport Branch especially to the Riverhead LIRR station,” said Mr. Doroski, who served on the Southold Town Board until he took his seat on the legislature this year, in the letter to Speaker Heastie. “Although the Governor has championed the benefits of transit-oriented development, the lack of service on the North Fork means that the benefits of such development would be limited.”
Mr. Doroski added that expanding service on the Greenport Branch is a priority identified in the MTA’s 20-Year Needs Assessment, which was released in 2023. That document recommends extending electrification of the rail line eastward from Ronkonkoma to Yaphank or Riverhead, and adding a second track. The North Fork trains currently have diesel-electric locomotives.
“By investing in the Greenport Branch, we can increase ridership, reduce traffic and greenhouse gas emissions, improve mobility along the North Fork, expand access to education and health care, and allow workers from western Suffolk County to better access jobs across the entire North Fork and workers from the North Fork better access to jobs across Suffolk County, allowing the Greenport Branch to meet its potential as an economic engine for the North Fork,” added Mr. Doroski.
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