The Long Island Rail Road opened its new $25.5 million “trainwash” in Babylon on Tuesday.
Located at the busiest of the LIRR’s 11 branches, the fully automatic facility is expected to wash the exterior of more than 320 train cars per day. Financed through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the wash facility finished construction on time and under budget, officials said.
“This is a fine example of government embracing new technologies that help both the commuter and the environment,” said New York State Sen. Owen Johnson (R-Babylon).
The new facility was designed to be environmentally friendly, incorporating a solar panel system estimated to save the LIRR $6,700 annually. A filtration system was also installed designed to reuse more than 70 percent of the wastewater from the wash.
An oil-water separator is also incorporated to prevent oil and diesel fuel from entering the wastewater system. The facility will reduce pollution by pre-treating train wash wastewater prior to release into the sewers.
The project created approximately 350 new jobs.
“The Long Island Rail Road follows Long Island first,” said Suffolk County Legis. Wayne Horsley (D-Babylon). “Meaning that we are employing Long Island employees. That’s what’s critical and that’s what’s going to bring back the economy in Suffolk and Nassau County and this is the right way to do business.”
According to LIRR President Helena Williams, the train wash facility is critical to increasing the life of the train cars.
“A clean car really means a lot in terms of car maintenance and preserves the useful life of a car, we want to see these cars last for 40 years,” said Williams. “Clean cars add to the life of the car and we can’t emphasize this enough.”
