Amtrak approves Metro-North PSNY access plan
Written by Keith Barrow, Senior Editor, International Railway Journal
Artist’s impression of a Metro-North train crossing the Hell Gate Bridge.
Amtrak’s board of directors has approved an agreement with the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) that will pave the way for introduction of Metro-North commuter rail services to Penn Station New York and extension of Amtrak intercity services to Long Island.
Amtrak says the agreement will enable MTA to move ahead with the design and construction of enhancements relating to the Penn Station Access project, which will give passengers on Metro-North New Haven Line (Northeast Corridor) direct service to the Bronx and the West Side of Manhattan. Trains will branch off the New Haven Line at New Rochelle, N.Y., traveling via the eastern Bronx, Queens, and Amtrak’s Hell Gate Bridge.
Metro-North trains will then continue through the existing East River Tunnels, joining Long Island Rail Road Trains heading into a modernized Penn Station. The project includes construction of four new stations in the eastern Bronx.
The project includes track, signaling and telecommunications upgrades to accommodate commuter rail services. MTA will fund all necessary infrastructure works and has agreed to share the future costs of operation, maintenance and recapitalization of the line.
Amtrak and MTA will also begin planning for the “eventual operation” of direct Amtrak intercity services from PSNY to stations in Long Island. Amtrak says this will allow “through and connecting service” from Long Island to stations on the Northeast Corridor and beyond.
