Editing Long Island Rail Road (section)

== Freight service ==
{{Main|Rail freight transportation in New York City and Long Island}}
{{For|more details on the franchisee that runs freight service for the LIRR|New York and Atlantic Railway}}
[[File:New York and Atlantic Train at Jamaica LIRR station 1.jpg|alt=A New York and Atlantic freight train at Jamaica station.|thumb|A [[NYAR]] freight train at Jamaica station]]
The LIRR and other railroads that became part of the system have always had freight service, though this has diminished. The process of shedding freight service accelerated with the acquisition of the railroad by New York State.{{Citation needed|date=August 2020}} In the 21st century, there has been some appreciation of the need for better [[Rail freight transportation in New York City and Long Island|railroad freight service in New York City and on Long Island]].<ref name=":6">{{Cite web|last=Plan|first=The Fourth Regional|date=August 13, 2020|title=The Fourth Regional Plan|url=http://fourthplan.org/|access-date=August 13, 2020|website=The Fourth Regional Plan|publisher=[[Regional Plan Association]]|language=en}}</ref> Both areas are primarily served by trucking for freight haulage, an irony in a region with the most extensive rail transit service in the Americas, as well as the worst traffic conditions.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Ascher|first=Kate|title=The Works: Anatomy of a City|publisher=Penguin Press|year=2005|isbn=1594200718}}</ref> 

Proposals for a [[Cross-Harbor Rail Tunnel]] for freight have existed for years to alleviate these issues, and, in recent years, there have been many new pushes for its construction by officials.<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":7">{{Cite web|last=Metro|title=Another 30-year wait for completion of the Cross-Harbor Freight Tunnel?|url=https://www.metro.us/another-30-year-wait-for-completion-of-the-cross-harbor-freight-tunnel/|access-date=August 13, 2020|website=Metro US|date=January 22, 2018 |language=en-US}}</ref> Financial issues, as well as bureaucracy, remain major hurdles in constructing it.<ref name=":7" />
In May 1997, freight service was franchised on a 20-year term to the [[New York and Atlantic Railway]] (NYAR), a short line railroad owned by the [[Anacostia and Pacific Company]].<ref>{{Cite news | title = Bygone Era's Revival: Hauling Goods by Rail | first = Carol | last = Steinberg | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1999/01/31/nyregion/bygone-era-s-revival-hauling-goods-by-rail.html | newspaper = New York Times | date = January 31, 1999 | access-date = September 15, 2009 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100831130350/http://www.nytimes.com/1999/01/31/nyregion/bygone-era-s-revival-hauling-goods-by-rail.html | archive-date = August 31, 2010 | url-status = live }}</ref> 

It has its own equipment and crews, but uses the rail facilities of the LIRR. To the east, freight service operates to the end of the West Hempstead Branch, to Huntington on the Port Jefferson Branch, to Bridgehampton on the Montauk Branch, and to Riverhead on the Main Line. On the western end it provides service on the surviving freight-only tracks of the LIRR: the Bay Ridge and Bushwick branches; the "Lower Montauk" between Jamaica and Long Island City; and to an interchange connection at [[Fresh Pond Junction]] in Queens with the [[CSX]], [[Canadian Pacific]], and [[Providence and Worcester]] railroads.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.panynj.gov/about/CHFP_draft_Tier_1_EIS/CHFP_Tier1_EIS_downloads.html|title=Cross Harbor Freight Program: CHFP Tier 1 EIS Document|work=panynj.gov|access-date=July 5, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160702100524/http://www.panynj.gov/about/CHFP_draft_Tier_1_EIS/CHFP_Tier1_EIS_downloads.html|archive-date=July 2, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Freight branches ===
[[File:SotyBrooklynRailway0918.jpg|thumb|right|The freight-only [[Bay Ridge Branch]] through Brooklyn]]
Some non-electrified lines are used only for freight:

* The [[Garden City–Mitchel Field Secondary]] is a short remnant of the Central Branch that splits from the Hempstead Branch at Garden City, running to [[Uniondale, New York|Uniondale]] near [[Hofstra University]] and Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. This branch does not host any NYAR service. This branch was used by the Ringling Bros. Circus to transport animals, staff and equipment to the Nassau Coliseum until their final shows there in May 2017.<ref name="youtube.com"/>
* The [[Bushwick Branch]] runs west from the Montauk Branch at [[Maspeth, Queens|Maspeth]] to [[Bushwick Terminal]]. This was a passenger branch until 1924.<ref name="Cross Harbor EIS 2004 p. 128-IA239">{{cite book | title=Cross Harbor Freight Movement Project in Kings, Queens, Richmond Counties, New York, and Hudson, Union, Middlesex, Essex Counties, New Jersey: Environmental Impact Statement | year=2004 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F-Y0AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA128-IA239}}</ref>{{rp|128}}
* The [[Bay Ridge Branch]] runs south and west from the Montauk Branch at [[Fresh Pond, Queens|Fresh Pond]] to [[Bay Ridge, Brooklyn|Bay Ridge]]. At Fresh Pond, it meets CSX's [[Fremont Secondary]], which goes over the [[Hell Gate Bridge]] towards [[Upstate New York]] and [[New England]]. At its southern end it interchanges with the [[New York New Jersey Rail]] cross-harbor rail-barge service to New Jersey. This branch had a passenger service until 1924.<ref name="NYCDCP-BklynOpenCut">{{cite web|title=INVENTORY OF DECKING OPPORTUNITIES OVER TRANSPORTATION PROPERTIES Final Report: 6.2: TRANSIT AND RAILROAD OPEN CUTS: BROOKLYN |url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/pdf/transportation/deck04.pdf |website=[[Government of New York City|nyc.gov]] |publisher=[[New York City Department of City Planning]] |date=September 2008 |access-date=October 25, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304210528/http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/pdf/transportation/deck04.pdf |archive-date=March 4, 2016 }}</ref> The entire line was [[railway electrification|electrified]] with overhead wire in 1927,<ref name="PRRC 1927">{{cite web|url= http://www.prrths.com/Hagley/PRR1927%20Jul%2004.wd.pdf |title=PRR Chronology, 1927 }}&nbsp;{{small|(100&nbsp;[[Kibibyte|KiB]])}}, July 2004 Edition</ref> and the overhead wires were dismantled in 1969.<ref name="Cross Harbor EIS 2004 p. 128-IA239"/>{{rp|10}}