PRI, nVent Partner to Supply Third Rail Heaters for Third Track Expansion

West Babylon, NY – PRI will be working with nVent to supply third rail heaters as part of the Long Island Rail Road’s (LIRR) Third Track Expansion Project. PRI will be designing and providing 24 PLC-based SCADA and control cabinets, 55 heating element contactor cabinets, 55 fused knife switch boxes, and additional heating elements.

Back in August 2021, PRI and nVent announced a strategic alliance to provide rail and switch heating solutions to the North American transit industry. This partnership allows PRI to use its engineering, controlling, and system integration capabilities alongside nVent’s industry-leading heating solutions and customer support to fully integrate customers’ heating systems for winter operations.

Winters in New York are often accompanied by freezing temperatures and inclement weather. Unfortunately, these conditions can cause the third rail of a train track to freeze, which can cause major delays for LIRR customers. The installation of these new heaters will prevent the third rail from freezing and will help the trains remain powered through their travels along the Main Line, which runs from Floral Park to Hicksville.

Images supplied by nVent.

PRI has been involved in several different areas of the Third Track Expansion Project, including: furnishing, testing and installing a brand new Motor Generator System and a Mobile Substation for the LIRR as well as designing new SCADA software to reflect the additional third track being installed between Floral Park and Hicksville.

For more project information, contact PRI at 631-643-3170 and see the official LIRR Project Page.