Free Republic

It's rare for a president to pull funding from a sweetheart transportation project. But on the final Friday of 2017, the Trump administration announced that it was backing away from an Obama-era plan to lavish billions in federal aid on the Hudson Tunnel project. Billed as "the nation's most urgent major infrastructure project" by its proponents, the venture envisions a new rail tunnel beneath the Hudson River along with repairs to an existing rail tunnel damaged by Hurricane Sandy. All of this would mostly serve to increase rail transit service within the New York City metro area. Given the huge...

The board of mediators appointed by President Barack Obama to help resolve a 3½-year contract dispute between the Long Island Rail Road and most of its unions rejected the LIRR’s claim that it can’t afford to give workers raises. […] The presidential board recommended annual raises for workers averaging 2.83 percent over six years, and increased health care contributions for all workers. It did not call for any changes in LIRR pension plans or to any work rules. […] The MTA (Metropolitan Transportation Authority) would agree to raises, but only if they were funded by other concessions. That includes the...

A New York grand jury has indicted 15 Long Island Rail Road workers and two others accusing them of participating in the theft of copper wiring. The suspects surrendered Friday and said nothing as they turned themselves in to face charges, 1010 WINS’ Mona Rivera reported. Eight of the defendants pleaded not guilty on Friday morning. The remainder will be arraigned later in the day. … Some of the workers accused in the scheme are accused of ripping up old copper wire as it was being replaced in Jamaica, West Islip and Babylon yards and instead of handing it over...