LIRR, which connects Manhattan to the eastern tip of Suffolk County on Long Island, is owned by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Earlier this year, the authority announced a plan to roll out a pilot program to test battery-powered trains without passengers on its Oyster Bay Branch over a period of eight months.
The plan was to retrofit two electric trains with batteries so they can operate on electrified parts of the route using third rail power, and charge the batteries at the same time, and then switch to battery power on non-electrified parts of the route. If the trial was successful, MTA planned to roll out battery-powered trains to other LIRR routes.
According to media reports, a feasibility study found the project was too expensive and inconvenient for LIRR to implement in the near future. Retrofitting the trains with battery-power could cost up to €26m.
LIRR and MTA have announced that they are not completely giving up on the plan and that they may revisit battery power in the future.
LIRR is currently investigating ways to eliminate the use of diesel on its routes by 2050. MTA is currently assessing electrification – about 160 of the LIRR’s 319 route-miles are not electrified.