Metro-North gets go-ahead on Penn Station plan

Metro-North Railroad has received a financial green light to proceed with a $695 million project that will give Connecticut commuters a direct line to Penn Station and the West Side of Manhattan.

The money is part of a $27 billion, five-year capital plan approved this week for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority — the largest MTA infrastructure investment in New York State history.

“Today marks a major step forward,” said MTA Chairman and CEO Tom Prendergast. “With historic levels of funding through the capital plan, we have the resources and support we need to renew, enhance and expand our transportation infrastructure.”

The direct route to Penn Station begins at New Rochelle, N.Y., where commuter trains from Connecticut will veer onto revamped Amtrak tracks and continue directly to Penn Station. Four new stations will be built in the Bronx along the new line.

All Metro-North trains now go to Grand Central Station on Manhattan’s East Side, forcing commuters heading to the West Side to take a taxi or subway.

The Penn Station project is targeted for completion in 2022 and involves no Connecticut funding.

“Grand Central will still be the main hub,” said Aaron Donovan, a Metro-North spokesman.

“This is an added destination,” Donovan said. “It will give folks from Connecticut another way to get into Manhattan. And in terms of disruptions, like during the (recent) fire, this provides an alternative way to get into (and out of) Manhattan.”

A fire last week under a Harlem viaduct stranded passengers at Grand Central for hours and delayed commuters throughout the line. If the direct route to Penn Station had been operating, many commuters could have left the city that way, Donovan said.

“Everyone is excited about what this means for commuters,” Donovan said.

“Good news”

The $27 billion dollar improvement plan also includes the purchase of more than 2,340 buses, 1,450 subway cars, additional tracks for the Long Island Railroad and an East Side Access project that will allow Long Island riders to go directly to Grand Central Terminal, relieving congestion at Penn Station.

Jim Cameron, founder of the Commuter Action Group, said a direct line to Penn Station is “good news for Connecticut commuters,” adding the project has been in the planning stage for years.

“It has always been my understanding that we will not get access to Penn Station until the Long Island Railroad’s East Side Access project into Grand Central is completed,” Cameron added.

“Penn station is just maxed out and cannot handle any additional trains until the Long Island Railroad is able to send some of theirs to Grand Central,” Cameron said.

Donovan said the East Side Access project will be done at the same time improvements are made to allow a direct line to Penn Station, which includes adding a third rail to power the trains.

“I think it will help some,” Cameron said. “It might help folks who work on the West Side.”

Final step

New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said the plan has received final approval from the Capital Plan Review Board, the last step in a lengthy process.

“The MTA is the lifeblood of the New York metropolitan area’s transportation network and we must ensure it has the capacity to meet the travel demands of the next generation and fuel one of the largest economies on the globe,” Cuomo said in a statement.

“By investing in the most robust transportation plan in state history, we are reimagining the MTA and ensuring a safer, more reliable and more resilient public transportation network for tomorrow,” Cuomo added.

Metro-North said in its capital plan that only three miles of new track, and no tunnels, are needed for the Penn Station access project.

“For the most part, Metro-North’s New Haven Line will take advantage of existing track, owned by Amtrak, to go directly to Midtown Manhattan’s West Side,” the MTA wrote.

“We’re planning a project that will provide critical system resiliency by protecting service for more than 275,000 daily customers if Metro-North’s service to Grand Central Terminal is ever interrupted,” the capital plan notes.