The Brookhaven Rail Terminal (BRT) is a privately financed $40 million railroad yard in Yaphank, New York on Long Island that is built to be transload facility, a place where bulk commodities are transferred from rail freight cars to trucks for local delivery. The 28-acre initial site opened on September 27, 2011. It is projected to take 40,000 long haul trucks off Long Island roads and handle 1 million tons of freight a year by 2016.[1] It includes 13,000 feet of new track, with three tracks for construction material, such as asphalt and concrete, and six tracks for merchandise, such as flour and biodiesel.[2]
Train operations on the site are handled by U S Rail of New York, LLC (reporting marks USRNY), a Class III shortline terminal railroad formed to operate the facility. Two EMD GP38 locomotives are used for on site switching, while cars are delivered and picked up by the New York and Atlantic Railroad. The site was chosen to minimize residential and traffic impacts: it is close to exit 66 on the Long Island Expressway and 1/4 mile from the nearest home. (A proposal for a similar facility at the former Pilgrim State Hospital, 18 miles to the west, was stymied by local opposition.[3]) An additional 100 acres are available for further expansion, including posssible facilities for intermodal containers and refrigerated storage. The facility expects to handle over 10,000 railcars in its first full operating year.[4]