The Metropolitan Transit Authority recently agreed to purchase 46 acres of land from the Suffolk County Land Bank for $10, clearing one of many possible hurdles to building a rail yard along the Port Jefferson line of the Long Island Rail Road that would one day replace the diesel trains that carry commuters to and from the city.

“We were stuck at this step for many, many years,” said Assemblywoman Rebecca Kassay (D-Port Jefferson), who sponsored legislation that Governor Kathy Hochul (D) signed this summer to protect the Setauket-Port Jefferson Station Greenway Trail.

Concerns about the fate of the Greenway Trail, which the Department of Transportation could have developed into a 25A bypass until the bill passed, had created a long-standing delay in transferring land that could lead to an electrified train.

Local political and environmental leaders have been eager to replace diesel trains, which release greenhouse gases and particulates into the air, are noisy and often sit idling.

“Acquiring the property was an important first step,” Daniel Panico, Town of Brookhaven Supervisor (R), wrote in an email. “Now the MTA and LIRR must invest in the planning, engineering and construction necessary to move this project forward. Government projects already take too long — the time to plan and invest is now.”

The MTA’s purchase of the land “is cause for celebration,” said Adrienne Esposito, executive director of Citizens Campaign for the Environment. “This is a really great way” for the former Superfund site that required extensive cleanup after the previous owners had created hazardous waste in building titanium aircraft parts to “be turned into a community benefit.”