[scalziand]

Originally Posted by ardecila

If Hochul wants to, she can force a wholesale transfer of the Bay Ridge Branch from LIRR to NYCTA but it would be done over the objections of LIRR and would mean the end of freight service. Splitting the ownership down the middle is possible but requires a lot of expensive and space-consuming infrastructure due to various regulations.

Legacy systems didn't have these requirements, so CTA Orange Line sits side-by-side with freight tracks, as do various DC Metro lines, etc with just a chainlink fence separating them. That's no longer possible. Regulations either require a very wide separation between tracks where space permits, or a crash wall where space is limited. The crash wall is basically a 3ft thick military-level fortification to stop a derailing freight train, so it's not cheap to build.

Eh, really? The new Green Line extension in Boston pretty much has the trolley tracks separated from the commuter rail/freight tracks by a chainlink fence- no crash barrier. How wide a separation are you talking?

The EGE