This newest link in Metro-North’s operations will access Penn Station via the New York Connecting Railroad from New Rochelle NY over the Hell Gate Bridge to Sunnyside, Queens, using the Long Island Railroad and the East River Tunnels to, gain access to New York Penn Station. The New York Connecting is Amtrak’s route for Northeast Regional and Acela Express trains to Boston, along with Providence & Worcester Railroad freight trains that connect with the New York and Atlantic’s freight operations out of Fresh Point Yard in Queens. CSX Transportation also has trackage rights on the line.
The Penn Station Access Project will provide a direct one-seat ride into Penn Station for Metro-North Railroad’s New Haven Line riders. It will provide new direct rail service to East Bronx workers who live along the Metro-North New Haven Line in Westchester, N.Y., and Connecticut. Four Americans with Disabilities Act-accessible Metro-North stations will be newly constructed in the eastern Bronx at Hunts Point, Parkchester/Van Nest, Morris Park and Co-op City to enable a speedy ride to Manhattan.
The plan for the station, first developed in 2009, had been stalled for some time over an operating agreement between the MTA and Amtrak. Amtrak owns the New York Connecting tracks that the new service will be traveling over. A Metro-North committee approved the $35 million contract with HNTB New York Engineering and Architecture for preliminary engineering and design of the project, known as Metro-North’s Penn Station Access project. As part of the agreement, Amtrak and MTA will jointly study the feasibility of Amtrak running several trains daily from Long Island to Penn Station and continuing either north to Boston or south to Washington.
Timing is everything; the three- to five-year project is expected to begin after both increased Acela levels between New York and Boston in 2021, and the conclusion of the East Side Access Program to Grand Central Terminal opens in 2022. The start of Long Island Rail Road train service to Grand Central will free up necessary slots at Penn Station for this new service.
“Bringing Metro-North service to the east Bronx is a game changer for the borough, and we have all been eager to get started.” Acting MTA Chairman Fernando Ferrer says. “This project will significantly reduce travel times for east Bronx residents and help area businesses and institutions attract employees.”
