NEW YORK — The environmental review process has begun for Interborough Express, New York City’s first light rail service, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced on Wednesday (Oct. 15, 2025).
The start of the process will include three public meetings to explain the scope of the project and the review process. The first is set for Wednesday, Oct. 29, at Brooklyn College; the second will be Thursday, Nov. 6, at Christ the King High School in Middle Village, Queens, and the third will be online on Wednesday, Nov. 12, in two sessions, at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Registration for the meetings and a link for submitting comments online are available here.
The 14-mile, 19-station Interborough Express line, also known as the IBX, will connect 17 subway lines, 50 bus routes, and two Long Island Rail Road stations. End-to-end run time is estimated at 32 minutes.
MTA CEO Janno Lieber said in a press release that “900,000 New Yorkers live along the proposed IBX route, and we’re not going to waste any time advancing this project for them. Launching the state environmental review process gives us the momentum we need to move this transformational effort toward construction.”
The latest meetings follow 10 open houses and 10 pop-up outreach sessions regarding the project that began in 2023, as well as quarterly virtual community council meetings on the project.
