Four new Metro-North stations bound for the Bronx – NBC New York (47)

NEW YORK — The commute from Connecticut or the Hudson Valley to Manhattan’s West Side will soon be easier and shorter.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul and other state lawmakers were in attendance Friday for a time-consuming opening in the Bronx: four new transit stations that, for the first time, will give Metro-North riders a direct line to the heart of midtown Manhattan at the newly renovated (and still under renovation) Penn Station.

With four new stations in the Bronx, the $3.18 billion Metro-North Penn Station Access project, part of the global infrastructure effort that will eventually open a new LIRR terminal under Grand Central, will bring rail service within a mile to half a million of people and will mark the largest expansion for Metro-North since its founding in 1983.

The four new stations at Hunts Point, Parkchester/Van Nest, Morris Park and Co-Op City will also be ADA compliant. Construction on the four actual stations is expected to begin in 2024. The Penn Station Access Project is expected to be fully completed in 2027.

Among other benefits, the expansion should provide:

• Big cuts in travel times. Passengers from the East Bronx traveling to Penn Station can save up to 50 minutes each way, while those traveling to Connecticut can save up to 75 minutes. For example, it takes about 75 minutes to get to Penn from the now proposed Co-Op City station. Once the project is done, 25 should be needed.
• Increase reverse scrolling opportunities. Backward commuters will find it easier to travel from Penn Station to Hunts Point, Parkchester/Van Nest, Morris Park, Co-op City, Westchester and southern Connecticut.
• Benefits for the local economy and improvement of sustainability. Improved access to the East Bronx, Westchester and Connecticut will benefit local educational campuses, medical institutions and shopping malls. By significantly reducing commute times, Penn Station Access will make public transit a viable and attractive alternative, encouraging drivers to switch to public transit and reducing traffic congestion and emissions.
• Improvement of regional connections. Bronx residents and those from the New York City metro area, Westchester, Connecticut, and the Northeast region will find it easier to reach destinations throughout the Northeast with connections to subways NJ Transit, LIRR, PATH, Amtrak and NYCT.

Amtrak’s Hell Gate Line will provide what will become a four-way route, optimizing existing infrastructure and minimizing the construction’s impact on surrounding communities. Metro-North trains stopping at the four new Bronx stations will serve as an extension of the New Haven Line from New Rochelle station, offering transit options in the East Bronx to Midtown Manhattan as well as points in Westchester and Connecticut, and in both directions .

All additions require slightly more money to expand Metro-North’s New Rochelle Yard in Westchester and upgrade signal, power and communications infrastructure, raising the estimated cost to $3.18 billion from $2.87 billion. dollars.

The project also includes rehabilitation work to repair and strengthen the following four bridges to carry more rail traffic: the Bronx River Bridge, Eastchester Road Bridge, Bronxdale Avenue Bridge and Pelham Lane Bridge.

“Penn Station Access is a game changer for a huge private transit area in the Bronx. 500,000 residents live within a mile of the four new Metro-North stations, and far more when you look at the entire service area,” MTA President and Lo CEO Janno Lieber said in a statement. “This project means significantly shorter commutes and access to jobs, education, healthcare and everything New York has to offer.”

Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson added, “The East Bronx has long been at a disadvantage when it comes to transportation access, but these four new Metro-North stations will make it easier for commuters to travel to their destinations and help to eliminate transit deserts in our municipality”.

The other component of the transit overhaul is the highly anticipated East Side Access, an $11.2 billion project to connect the Long Island Railroad to a new station near Grand Central Terminal. It will provide direct LIRR service to a new concourse beneath the established transit hub and mark the first rail expansion in a century.

Last week, the MTA announced that Grand Central Madison is officially on track to open in December. The Federal Railway Administration has approved the project.

The project includes works at multiple locations in Manhattan and Queens and includes more than eight miles of tunnels. It will carry all 11 branches of the LIRR through a new East River tunnel with a final destination under the current Grand Central. This new route will save valuable time for travelers heading to the East Side.

Once completed, East Side Access will serve approximately 162,000 customers daily, according to the MTA.

It is one of the largest transportation infrastructure projects completed in the United States in recent years, as well as the largest new rail terminal built in the United States since the 1950s.