Metro-North and Amtrak have overcome their public disagreements over the Penn Station Access Project, clearing the way for a $1 billion rail plan that will open Manhattan’s West Side to Westchester County commuters for the first time.

At a Metro-North meeting in Manhattan today, a top-ranking MTA official credited Gov. Andrew Cuomo with helping to break a logjam with Amtrak that had stalled the opening of bids for the project.

“We’re very excited about that,” Janno Lieber, the MTA’s chief development officer, told board members today. “It’s a long time coming.”

The plan would make it possible for commuters from the Sound Shore towns of New Rochelle, Larchmont, Mamaroneck, Rye, Port Chester and Harrison to have a one-seat ride to the West Side and would create four new Metro-North stations in the Bronx.

Westchester County Executive George Latimer, New Rochelle Mayor Noam Bramson, together with elected officials from the Bronx and Sen. Charles Schumer, D-NY, have been outspoken proponents of the rail project. Latimer says it could shave significant time off the daily commute from Sound Shore towns.

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"For those who live in Westchester along the Sound Shore and commute to the Bronx or parts of Manhattan for work and for businesses here in Westchester whose workforce commutes from the Bronx, this agreement between Amtrak and the MTA is a major victory with the creation of a one-seat ride into Penn Station from Westchester for the first time ever," Latimer said. "This agreement makes these communities even more attractive to live in and raising property values in the process."

The Bronx stations will be built in Co-op City, Morris Park, Parkchester and Hunts Point. New Haven Line trains will split off after New Rochelle, with some heading to Penn Station and others taking the existing route into Grand Central.

"Bringing Metro-North service to the east Bronx is a game changer for the borough, and we have all been eager to get started,” said Fernando Ferrer, the acting MTA chairman and former Bronx Borough President.

“This project will significantly reduce travel times for east Bronx residents and help area businesses and institutions attract employees," Ferrer added. "This is a long-held dream of mine and hundreds of thousands of Bronxites. Needless to say, we salute Governor Cuomo's leadership with Amtrak to let the MTA get this project moving."

To jumpstart the project, MTA’s Metro-North committee today approved a $35 million contract with HNTB New York Engineering and Architecture for a preliminary design. The full MTA Board will vote on the contract at its meeting Thursday. And Amtrak’s board will also have to sign off on the proposal.

Over the past year, negotiations between Amtrak and Metro-North broke down, with Lieber accusing Amtrak of coming up with eleventh-hour demands that stalled the opening of design bids.

“The MTA is going to pay for it,” Lieber told The Journal News/lohud.com in October. “Amtrak is getting a new railroad…They’re getting all this for free and we need a commitment that they will allow us not just to build them a new railroad but to operate that once we’re done.”

Central to the plan is Amtrak’s Hell Gate right of way, which will be used to usher New Haven Line trains into Penn Station down the West Side of Manhattan. After New Rochelle, trains will course through the Bronx and Queens along the Hell Gate before heading through the East River Tunnels, where they would join Long Island Rail Road trains destined for Penn Station.

Lieber said Amtrak wanted to collect access fees from Metro-North for use of the Hell Gate in addition to what the MTA has already agreed to pay.

And, Lieber said, Amtrak wanted the MTA to finance most of the replacement costs for the Pelham Bay Bridge, a century-old span that crosses over the Hutchinson River in the Bronx.

Work on the project is expected to take three to five years.

Under the agreement announced today, the MTA will pay for the cost of improvements along the Hell Gate as well as the design of the Bronx commuter stations, according to an outline of the agreement obtained by The Journal News/lohud.com.

The two railroads will share costs for use of the Hell Gate and the replacement of the Pelham Bay Bridge based on usage, the outline adds. And, Metro-North will coordinate the project around Amtrak’s plans to increase service levels on its Acela Express between New York and Boston in 2021.

The MTA wants work on the project to begin after the East Side Access Project wraps up in 2022. That project will give Long Island Rail Road trains access to Grand Central Terminal for the first time by way of a station being built in the terminal's basement.

In a statement, Amtrak Senior Executive Vice President Stephen Gardner said: "Amtrak and the MTA will begin working to advance direct Amtrak intercity passenger rail service to Long Island over the LIRR in the future. We appreciate Sen. Schumer and Gov. Cuomo for encouraging both organizations to work together to find a mutually-beneficial path forward for these two projects that will improve transportation in New York."

Today’s agreement calls for the Long Island Rail Road to reduce its service levels at Penn Station once the East Side project is finished to allow for more Metro-North service at Penn Station, the outline notes.

"Too many residents of the Bronx have been without reliable transit, which is why I proposed these new stations," Cuomo said. "With a reconstructed Moynihan Station currently underway, these four stations not only will connect the east Bronx to Manhattan's West Side, but also build upon our ongoing efforts to fully transform our state's transportation infrastructure.”

The MTA’s capital program includes an initial investment of nearly $700 million, including $250 million from the state’s Empire State Development Corporation.

Schumer used the announcement to push for repairs to the East River Tunnel.

“To make this project a reality it is more urgent than ever that we repair the aging and Sandy-damaged East River Tunnel through which this new line must run, and I urge the MTA and Amtrak to use the $500 million in federal funds I secured for this project to get started ASAP," Schumer said.

He said the Penn Station project will "reduce travel times, increase reverse commuting options, create jobs and boost economic activity."

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