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6/19/2025
Amtrak is developing a plan to offer new passenger service extending from Ronkonkoma on Long Island, New York, to Penn Station in New York City.
The service would continue south to include intermediate stops and into Washington, D.C., as part of Amtrak's Northeast Regional (NER) service. Envisioned for three daily round trips, the train would operate over Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor, the MTA Long Island Rail Road’s Main Line and the LIRR’s Ronkonkoma Branch, with proposed stops at the LIRR’s existing Jamaica and Hicksville stations.
Extending Northeast Regional service to Ronkonkoma would provide Long Island’s 5.4 million residents with an intercity rail alternative for the first time in over 80 years, according to a description of the proposal on Amtrak's website.
Extending the NER to Long Island also would allow for an intercity passenger-rail connection to John F. Kennedy International Airport at Jamaica Station via the JFK AirTrain, and to Long Island MacArthur Airport at Ronkonkoma Station.
“We looked into this quite a bit about what the potential demand would be, and we believe there is a very strong demand of people coming from Suffolk, Nassau and Queens counties to points south of New York City,” said Nicole Bucich, vice president of network development at Amtrak, as reported by amny.com.
Traditionally, Long Island residents have relied mostly on LIRR for connecting to Amtrak in New York Penn Station, according to the report.
Amtrak is nearing the end of preparing its statement of work, schedule and budget for the proposal as part of the Federal Railroad Administration's rail corridor identification process. Amtrak proposes the route extension would be funded by the FRA Corridor ID Program and Amtrak.