GARDEN CITY, NY—The controversial Third Trackor “Fast Track” project proposed for the main lineof the Long Island Rail Road would help create14,000 jobs on Long Island by the year 2035 or 10 years after theproject's anticipated completion.

The economic impact of the project to add an additional track toa 9.8-mile segment of the LIRR Main Line between Floral Park andHicksville was the subject of a report released earlier this weekby The Long Island Index, a project of theRauch Foundation. The report titled "The Economicand Fiscal Impacts of the Long Island Rail Road Main Line ThirdTrack” states that construction of the Third Track would representa $1.2-billion investment in the Long Island economy over afive-year period. That investment would yield 2,250 average annualjobs creations, $910 million in cumulative personal income and $910million in cumulative gross regional product.

“The Fast Track's positive growth potential for Long Island isenormous,” says Nancy RauchDouzinas, president of the Rauch Foundation.“There is no other single project on the drawing boards that hasthe potential to increase Long Island's economy more thanthis.”