Brookhaven Rail Terminal
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| Reporting mark | USRNY |
|---|---|
| Locale | Long Island |
| Dates of operation | 2011–Present |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
| Website | www.brookhavenrailterminal.com |
The Brookhaven Rail Terminal (BRT) is a truck-train trans-load facility in Yaphank, New York on Long Island. The 28-acre initial site was built with $40 million in private funds and opened on September 27, 2011. It is projected to take 40,000 long haul trucks off Long Island roads and handle 1 million tons of freight a year by 2016. It includes 13,000 feet of new track, with three tracks for construction material, such as asphalt and concrete, and six tracks for merchandise, such as flour and biodiesel.
Train operations on the site are handled by U.S. Rail of New York, LLC (reporting mark USRNY), a Class III shortline railroad formed to operate the facility. Two EMD GP38 locomotives are used for on-site switching, while rail cars are delivered and picked up by the New York and Atlantic Railroad which operates over the Long Island Rail Road Main Line. The site was chosen to minimize residential and traffic impacts: it is close to exit 66 on the Long Island Expressway and 1/4 mile from the nearest home. (A proposal for a similar facility at the former Pilgrim State Hospital, 18 miles to the west, was stymied by local opposition.) Adjacent tracts totaling an additional 93 acres are available for further expansion, including possible facilities for intermodal containers and refrigerated storage. The facility expected to handle over 10,000 railcars in its first full operating year.
The Town of Brookhaven originally tried to stop the project claiming in 2007 that BRT had not received proper approvals from the town nor environmental impact review. However in 2010 the town settled with the developers after being advised that the federal Surface Transportation Board likely had jurisdiction over the project. The settlement included mitigation measures, such as dust controls, storm water retention, a visual landscape barrier, replanting 30% of the property, and $1 million in payments to the town. Under the agreement, the site is not to be used for loading or processing solid waste.
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