New York and Atlantic Railway

New York and Atlantic Railway (NY&A), reporting mark NYA, is a short-line freight railroad serving Long Island in the southeastern portion of New York State. It began operations on May 11, 1997, after the Long Island Rail Road, the region's publicly operated commuter railroad, transferred its freight business to a private operator. The arrangement gave NY&A an initial 20-year franchise to provide freight service over tracks owned and primarily used by the Long Island Rail Road. The railroad operates exclusively on Long Island but connects with the wider North American rail network through CSX Transportation's Fremont Secondary and the Hell Gate Bridge. It also exchanges cars with New York New Jersey Rail's car-float operation at the 65th Street Yard in Brooklyn and with US Rail of New York at Yaphank. Fresh Pond Junction in Queens is its principal freight yard, while Pine Aire Yard in northern Bay Shore is another important operating location. NY&A also uses team tracks at numerous locations, including Bay Ridge, Hicksville, Huntington, Greenlawn, St. James, Islip, Richmond Hill, Maspeth, Speonk, Medford and Southold. NY&A serves approximately 80 customers across a broad range of industries. Its traffic includes lumber, building materials, scrap metal, construction and demolition debris, biodiesel fuel, food products, beer, gravel, propane, chemicals, structural steel, plastics and recyclable paper and cardboard. The railroad also transports municipal solid waste in sealed containers, occasional utility poles and electrical transformers for the Long Island Power Authority, and horse-feed boxcars for Belmont Park. Seasonal and event-related movements can be substantial; for example, the railroad has handled concentrated beer traffic around events such as the Super Bowl and St. Patrick's Day. Several facilities support customers that lack direct rail spurs. The Brookhaven Rail Terminal, a privately funded 28-acre transload facility in Yaphank, opened in 2011. At Wheel Spur Yard near Newtown Creek in Long Island City, work during the mid-2010s supported transloading for vegetable oil, food products and construction materials. The facility reopened in 2015. NY&A also moves large quantities of aggregate, including nearly one million tons of gravel annually from Connecticut quarries delivered through an interchange with Providence and Worcester Railroad. It has handled movements of new and retired rail equipment for the Long Island Rail Road and New York City Transit Authority as well. Traffic increased significantly after the railroad's launch. NY&A moved approximately 9,200 carloads during its first operating period in 1997 and about 30,000 carloads in 2018. Most freight movements take place at night to reduce conflicts with commuter service. Roughly 15 percent of its freight cars have historically reached Long Island by marine transfer across New York Harbor, a method constrained by barge capacity before additional barges were added by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in 2017 and 2018. As reported in 2019, the company employed about 60 people, including eight train crews. Its crew bases were in Glendale, Queens, and near Pine Aire. NY&A's operating model and labor arrangements were designed to provide greater flexibility in serving freight customers than the commuter railroad's former freight operation. The company remains a specialized regional freight carrier whose importance lies in connecting Long Island customers to the national rail system while reducing reliance on truck transportation for bulk and industrial commodities.

New York and Atlantic Railway was created in 1997 when the Long Island Rail Road decided to privatize its freight operations. The new railroad formally assumed responsibility for freight service on May 11, 1997, under an initial 20-year franchise. Rather than functioning as a standalone mainland railroad, NY&A inherited a freight role over infrastructure primarily associated with the Long Island Rail Road's extensive commuter network. Its operating territory is therefore geographically concentrated but strategically connected: the railroad serves Long Island customers while linking them to national rail carriers through connections in Queens, Brooklyn, Yaphank and across New York Harbor. Fresh Pond Junction in Queens developed as the railroad's main freight yard. Pine Aire Yard in northern Bay Shore provides another significant operating base, and crew bases have been located in Glendale, Queens, and near Pine Aire. NY&A's network includes customer spurs and team tracks distributed across Long Island. This arrangement allows businesses without a dedicated rail siding to load or unload cars at shared facilities, while most larger customers receive direct service at their own spurs. The railroad's commodity base is notably diverse for a regional short line. It carries construction inputs such as gravel, lumber, structural steel, plastics and building products; industrial and energy-related materials such as propane, chemicals, biodiesel fuel and utility equipment; consumer and agricultural products such as food, beer and horse feed; and waste and recycling traffic, including municipal solid waste, construction debris and recyclable paper. Belmont Park has received boxcars of horse feed, while public agencies have used NY&A for movements of rail equipment and scrap. Aggregate traffic is especially significant, with gravel from Connecticut quarries reaching Long Island through an interchange with Providence and Worcester Railroad. Transloading has been an important part of NY&A's service model. The Brookhaven Rail Terminal in Yaphank opened in 2011 as a privately funded 28-acre facility. It expanded the ability of shippers to transfer freight between rail and highway transportation. A separate project at Wheel Spur Yard near Newtown Creek was intended to support vegetable oil, food and construction-material movements, including anticipated construction activity associated with the replacement Kosciuszko Bridge; the yard reopened in 2015. NY&A's traffic volume grew from roughly 9,200 carloads when it began operating in 1997 to about 30,000 carloads in 2018. Freight is commonly moved at night, when commuter train schedules create fewer conflicts. The railroad's national connectivity depends partly on marine rail transfer: cars can be floated across New York Harbor from Jersey City to New York New Jersey Rail's Bay Ridge facility, while other traffic reaches Long Island through CSX's Fremont Secondary and the Hell Gate Bridge. Additional barge capacity introduced in 2017 and 2018 improved the maritime transfer system, although a direct cross-harbor rail tunnel remained a proposed rather than completed connection. By 2019, NY&A had approximately 60 employees and operated with about eight train crews. Its more flexible freight-oriented crewing arrangements distinguished it from the Long Island Rail Road's commuter-focused organization. The company has continued as an active subsidiary of Anacostia Rail Holdings Company, concentrating on the movement of industrial and consumer goods within a densely populated metropolitan region where freight rail competes with road transport and must coexist with heavy commuter operations.

1. 2019Workforce and crew structure reported

   The railroad was reported to have about 60 employees, including eight train crews, with bases in Glendale and near Pine Aire.

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2. 2018Annual traffic reaches approximately 30,000 carloads

   Reported annual carloads had increased to about 30,000, compared with approximately 9,200 when NY&A began service in 1997.

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3. 2015Wheel Spur Yard reopens

   The Wheel Spur Yard near Newtown Creek in Long Island City reopened after work supporting transloading for food, vegetable-oil and construction-material traffic.

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4. 2011Brookhaven Rail Terminal opens

   A privately funded 28-acre transload facility opened in Yaphank, providing additional rail-to-truck freight handling capacity.

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5. 1997NY&A begins Long Island freight operations

   New York and Atlantic Railway formally took over the Long Island Rail Road's freight operations on May 11, 1997, under an initial 20-year franchise.

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A privately operated regional freight railroad focused on industrial, construction, agricultural, consumer and municipal commodities on Long Island, with connections to national rail carriers and New York Harbor rail-barge infrastructure.

• Long Island short-line freight serviceRail transportation1997

  NY&A provides scheduled and customer-specific freight rail transportation over Long Island Rail Road trackage. Its service links approximately 80 customers with interchange partners and marine rail-transfer facilities, moving both carload freight and specialized traffic while operating around a dense commuter timetable.

• Transload and team-track serviceIntermodal and logistics services2011

  For shippers without private rail spurs, NY&A provides access to team tracks and transload facilities. The Brookhaven Rail Terminal in Yaphank and other yards allow commodities such as construction materials, food products and vegetable oil to transfer between railcars and trucks.

• Industrial and bulk commodity transportationFreight transportation1997

  The railroad carries a broad range of bulk and industrial products, including gravel, lumber, steel, chemicals, propane, scrap metal, plastics, biodiesel fuel, waste, recyclables and construction debris. It also handles selected specialized movements such as horse feed, utility equipment and rail vehicles.

• 2021NY&A freight train rear-ended by Long Island Rail Road inspection car

  NY&A train RS41, operating with locomotives 300 and 271, was rear-ended by Long Island Rail Road inspection car TC82 east of Cold Spring Harbor station. Minor injuries were reported among crew members of both trains.

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• 2015Freight train collides with tractor-trailer in Maspeth

  An NY&A freight train struck a tractor-trailer in Maspeth, Queens, after the crossing gates reportedly descended slowly. The truck driver sustained minor injuries.

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1. New York and Atlantic Railway