After months of warning about dire financial consequences brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) on July announced that federal funding will provide financial stability through the first half of 2024, and negate the need for immediate fare increases.
MTA New York City Transit (NYCT) has taken delivery of the first five of 535 Kawasaki R211 rapid transit cars; they will begin qualification testing in the coming weeks.
Civil construction of MTA Long Island Rail Road’s East Side Access (ESA) project has wrapped up, with third rail to be electrified and test trains to run this summer before LIRR service to Grand Central Terminal begins in December 2022.
Let’s take a closer look at the increases in relief for transit and Amtrak; consider how they will affect service; and examine what transit, Amtrak and their riders can expect in the near future.
While MTA New York City Transit’s (NYCT) overnight shutdown has not been canceled, it will be cut in half.
The new East End Gateway entrance to the Long Island Rail Road Concourse at Penn Station opened to the public at 12:00 pm Dec. 31. Described by New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority Construction & Development as “visually remarkable” and “high-capacity,” the entrance, located at 33rd Street and Seventh Avenue gives Penn Station “a front door identity on Seventh Avenue for the first time” while providing direct access for customers headed from street level to the LIRR, as well as to NYC Transit’s 1-2-3 and A-C-E subway lines. Prior to the new entrance, customers had to wind their way through Penn Station’s Amtrak level to reach the LIRR Concourse.
Officials at New York MTA’s Metro-North Railroad and Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) announced Dec. 23 that implementation of Positive Train Control (PTC) was complete, just ahead of the Dec. 31, 2020, federal deadline. They teamed with systems integrator Siemens Mobility and Bombardier Transportation on the project.
The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (MTA) two commuter railroads are starting a pilot test this month of a railcar air filtration and purification system from Knorr Brake Co. and its subsidiary Merak North America LLC.
New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Chairman and CEO Patrick J. Foye sent warning letters to MTA’s 11 largest suppliers on Sept. 17. “The COVID-19 pandemic has exacted a horrific toll in human, social and economic terms across the nation,” he noted in the letters. “I am writing to alert you that because of this financial devastation, many current and all future contracts are in jeopardy without an injection of $12 billion in emergency federal aid.”
Starting Monday, Sept. 14, New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) will issue a $50 fine to any rider who refuses to wear a mask on New York City subways and buses, Metro-North Railroad (MNR), and the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR). This follows New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s executive order on Thursday, Sept. 10, directing the MTA to develop a plan to increase mask compliance.
