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Fair New escalator on track for LIRR station
Baldwin depot stairway is one of six scheduled for replacement
The Long Island Rail Road is overhauling escalators at six stations on the Babylon branch, including the Baldwin station, the agency said.
The $14 million project includes replacement escalators at stations in Rockville Centre, Freeport, Amityville, Copiague and Lindenhurst, the agency said.
These stations, plus the Baldwin site, were identified as the locations with units most in need of replacement. All had been in use well beyond their expected lifespan, according to the LIRR.
The LIRR has been working to upgrade its elevator and escalator services since 2012, the agency said. Eleven units received a major overhaul, which was completed in 2013.
“At Baldwin, the escalator and adjacent staircase will be closed in May of 2016 and is scheduled to be re-opened in the fall of 2016,” LIRR spokesman Sal Arena said in an email.
Already, the ticket vending machines have been moved at Baldwin, in preparation for the escalator construction.
The Baldwin station was constructed in the early 1950s, Arena said, and it was built with a narrow, 24-inch-wide escalator.
“The replacement of a 24-inch-wide escalator with a 32-inch-wide escalator is beneficial and preferred,” Arena said.
Among the benefits he cited are:
* A wider passenger area;
* Compliance with the current industry standard of a 32-inch-wide escalator;
* Readily available common replacement parts, such as steps, comb plates and rollers, for 32-inch escalators in comparison to the less-common, obsolete 24-inch-wide escalator.
In addition, Arena noted, the escalator replacement project will include more reliable, safer and efficient escalators for riders. And the project will include new lighting, security and communications systems.
The new all-weather, heavy-duty escalators, which the LIRR called “state of the art,” is to be equipped with centralized monitoring capabilities; obstruction detection systems, and sleep mode technology to reduce energy consumption and wear during low-usage periods, the LIRR said in a news release.
The wind-screen enclosures surrounding the escalators are be improved, as are the machine rooms and electrical devices, according to the agency.
