Proposed 200 MPH Train Could Connect Long Island, NYC & Boston

LONG ISLAND, NY — A high-speed train capable of connecting Long Island and New York City with Boston has been proposed by North Atlantic Rail (NAR), a transit organization with the mission of ensuring New England gets its fair share of transportation funding.

Should the proposal become reality, Long Islanders could get to Boston in roughly two hours, Secret NYC reported. The train, which would reach up to 200 MPH, is planned to get from South Station to Penn Station in 100 minutes. Currently, travel from Boston to NYC on Amtrack’s Acela trains is nearly four hours, according to Secret NYC.

A total of $105 billion would be needed to design and build the project, as well as the trunk line, according to NAR's website. The organization is calling to become North Atlantic Rail, Inc. (NARI) in what would be a federal-state partnership to expedite the process.

The construction of the high-speed system would take roughly 20 years to complete, Secret NYC reported.

The project would create tens of thousands of jobs designing and building the system over a multi-year period, and several of the projects could be shovel-ready in a year to 15 months, according to the NAR.

Other potential benefits listed by NAR include renewable energy-powered electric rail lines to reduce carbon production; the connection of low-income people to massive job centers; reduction of air pollution; and congestion relief on the roads as fewer people would be inclined to drive between Long Island and Boston.

A high-speed rail line would connect Ronkonkoma to Penn Station, NAR wrote.

The project would call for the excavation of rail tunnels on Long Island, Newsday reported. The $105 billion price tag would make it 10 times the budget of the MTA's project that will link the Long Island Rail Road to Grand Central Terminal.