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NexusLI t1_j5ys7ul wrote

Article is stupid. We get more benefits from ESA than just redundancy and reliability. We get a ton more capacity to run commuter trains into Manhattan. The LIRR has scheduled way more trains to come in to the city, which doesn't just benefit people from far flung places, but also people who live off the LIRR in Queens. More transit is almost never a bad thing, even at the obscene price tag.

Not to mention, it's not like this is money that we spent and got nothing for it. This terminal is going to be in use for probably literally a couple/few hundred years. I know it's hard to see that far into the future, but the subway system itself is 118 years old, with Penn Station not far behind it, and Grand Central also not far behind Penn, and none of those things are going away in the near future. It's a lot of money to front today, and could've been cheaper, but we spent the money so future generations have a terminal too. It's worth every dime.

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CaptainKoconut t1_j5yw8ul wrote

They mention that the original LIRR tunnels to Penn haven't been repaired since Sandy, and then completely ignore the fact that worst comes to worst, now they could shut them down to repair them and still have LIRR service into Manhattan.

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anonyuser415 t1_j5zhulj wrote

> then completely ignore the fact that worst comes to worst, now they could shut them down

That's literally the entire point of that paragraph :) Here's the whole thing:

> East Side Access does accomplish one important goal, providing redundancy and some reliability improvements for the LIRR into Manhattan. Before ESA, the LIRR only had one track pairing and terminus in Manhattan at Penn Station. Those tunnels still haven’t been fully repaired from Hurricane Sandy damage because it would have been too disruptive to LIRR service. Redundancy and operational flexibility are important for a railroad that moves hundreds of thousands of people per weekday, especially as we look to a future of more frequent and severe storms due to climate change.

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epolonsky t1_j5zcj6v wrote

>This terminal is going to be in use for probably literally a couple/few hundred years.

I mean, G-d willing, sure. But the odds are by then it will all be well underwater.

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