NEW YORK — A Metropolitan Transportation Authority plan to provide Metro-North service to Penn Station has received clearance from the Federal Transit Administration, setting the stage for construction of four new commuter rail stations as well as direct service from Connecticut.
The project will use the existing Amtrak line over Hell Gate Bridge between Penn Station and New Rochelle, N.Y., to connect to existing Metro-North lines north of New Rochelle. It will also see construction of four new stations in the Bronx, at Hunts Point, Parkchester/Van Nest, Morris Park, and Co-op City [see “MTA to resume process of bringing Metro-North service to Penn Station,” Trains News Wire, May 14, 2021].
The FTA’s Finding of No Significant Impact completes the environmental review process required found that while the Penn Station Access Project could have adverse effects in six areas, the project included plans to mitigate those impacts. In 11 areas, it would have no negative impact and offered potential improvements in five of those, including addressing air quality, greenhouse gases, and socioeconomic conditions. The documents related to the finding are available at the MTA’s project website.
“This project will be game-changing for Metro-North,” Catherine Rinaldi, Metro-North president, said in a press release. “In essentially one bold stroke it will allow the railroad to dramatically reduce travel times for a transit desert with a vast population of hundreds of thousands of people, and it will allow our busiest line to have a second destination in midtown Manhattan. We are already looking forward to opening day.”
The Rockland/Westchester Journal News reports the project will take four to five years to complete, but could reduce commute times by up to 75 minutes for some passengers. The MTA says the process to award a design-build contract for the project is already underway.
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