Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Cash for cleaner choo-choos

From the Daily News:

A Queens lawmaker is pushing the state to set aside money to alleviate the problem of train pollution that stretches across four counties.

Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi will call on the legislature to allocate $17 million to swap out the engines on ten of the Long Island Rail Road’s freight locomotives.

Rail has become the preferred method to hauling waste across Suffolk, Nassau, Queens and Brooklyn in the past few years, but that has resulted in increased pollution along the track lines, the lawmaker said.

Residents in the four counties “suffer from high levels of noxious gas emissions from these locomotives’ outdated technology,” Hevesi (D-Forest Hills) wrote in a letter to Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, to be delivered Monday.

The current fleet of trains are owned by the LIRR and leased to a private firm that operates them along the New York and Atlantic Railway.

Those train engines, Hevesi said, fall under the lowest possible U.S. Environmental Protection Agency emissions standard, Tier 0, which means they were manufactured at least two decades ago.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

so if your private car does not meet emissions standards... "fuck you, fix fix it". But trains that a company leases... "don't worry, we got that covered for you. how much do you need?".

Great.

Anonymous said...

The locomotives belong to LIRR. Local residents and politicos complain to NY&A about trains, who refer them to LIRR, who in turn bounce it back to politicos.

Anonymous said...

Another Hevesi press release that will go nowhere.

Anonymous said...

Newer low sulphur diesel is mandated for trucks,i don't kknow what these locomotives burn. The feds give grants for all kind of bs,would love to see new technology diesels in those trains. Less emissions and improved efficiency-win/win.