Cuomo says long-stalled expansion of Metro-North in the Bronx to be finished by 2025
Metro-North Railroad trains could begin rolling into Penn Station via four new stops in transit-starved parts of the Bronx in 2025, Gov. Cuomo announced Thursday.
The long-promised additions are part of the Penn Station Access Project that will run Metro-North trains on existing Amtrak rail lines in the East Bronx, across the Hell Gate Bridge between the Bronx and Queens, through Amtrak’s East River tunnels and into Penn Station.
The project was given federal approval, and construction needed to establish the new service could kick off by the end of the year, Cuomo said.
The governor touted the $1.58 billion project, saying the new stations — at Co-op City, Morris Park, Parkchester and Hunts Point — will shave more than 30 minutes off the commutes of thousands of Bronx residents. The new service is expected to carry up to three trains an hour in each direction, serving as many as 30,000 riders a day, officials said.
“Today, the federal government was the last obstacle and they signed off on it,” he said. “The train is on the move and look what it’s going to do. Changes, changes everything.”
While federal approval is a major step forward, it’s far from the last hurdle for the transit improvements.
The new service depends on Amtrak’s set of four century-old East River tunnels, which are currently used by Long Island Rail Road and Amtrak passenger trains, as well as NJ Transit trains that head to Sunnyside Yards in Queens for storage.
Two of those tunnels were damaged in 2012 by flooding from Hurricane Sandy — and Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials have long said they must be repaired before Penn Station Access can launch.
Amtrak officials seek to shut down each tube entirely to complete the repairs, which would strain track capacity beneath the river.
MTA chief development officer Janno Lieber said he’s pushed Amtrak to take a note from the agency’s repairs of the L train tunnel in 2019, which was also damaged by Hurricane Sandy. Crews repaired that tunnel on nights and weekends while trains kept running, avoiding what would have been one of the largest mass transit disruptions in the city’s history.
“We’ve expressed to Amtrak a real concern that, because they’re planning year-long shutdowns, the second such year-long shutdown could interfere with the achievement of the full advantage of this [Bronx] service,” Lieber said. “I am convinced at the end of the day the timing and the methodology of the East River tunnel work will be done in a way that allows the full achievement.”
Amtrak spokesman Jason Abrams said last week the only way to repair the East River tunnels is to close them entirely — and suggested sloppy management by the MTA is the real reason Penn Station Access could be delayed beyond 2025.
“Whether this work has any bearing on the start of Metro North’s proposed Penn Station service depends ultimately on the MTA’s decisions on how to use its train slots into Penn during the East River tunnel work,” Abrams said.
Lieber on Thursday said there isn’t enough space to run Bronx-connecting Metro-North trains beneath the river on top of existing LIRR, Amtrak and NJ Transit service unless all of Amtrak’s East River tunnels are open for service.
Cuomo said Amtrak is more likely to ensure the repairs are speedy because President Biden is in charge of the federal government. “Who controlled the federal government last year? Who controls it this year? That’s a big difference,” he said.
Thursday was the latest in a string of public appearances by Cuomo, who for much of the spring declined to hold in-person press conferences amid multiple scandals that embroiled his office.
As he faces federal probes, an impeachment inquiry, and contends with allegations of sexual harassment and distorting the number of COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes, the governor has remained focused on vaccination efforts and postpandemic plans for the Empire State.
The governor’s attempts at projecting normalcy have included various events across the state with several fellow Democrats who have called on him to resign.
State Sen. Jamaal Bailey (D-Bronx) applauded Cuomo on Thursday for the state’s role in the rail expansion. His praise comes two months after he said the governor should step down after multiple women accused Cuomo of inappropriate behavior and harassment.
“The disturbing allegations of misconduct against Gov. Cuomo have continued to erode the trust and confidence of the public,” he said back in March.
