MTA Capital Plan Includes $4.7 Billion For Metro-North

The Metropolitan Transit Authority's board approved a $51.5 billion capital plan, the largest in history, to improve the region’s railroads, subways and buses over the next five years. The plan includes $4.7 billion for Metro-North Railroad.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said his priorities were improving signal technology, increasing accessibility, addressing quality of life concerns, ensuring equity for Metro-North and the Long Island Railroad, and upgrading bus service.

"This plan meets those priorities. The record level of investment by the State - including $25 billion secured during this year's legislative session and an additional State investment of $3 billion - is extraordinary, but after generations of the MTA being underfunded and mismanaged, it is necessary and will pay dividends for the future of the system," he said. "We have made much progress recently and now the Senate Leader, Assembly Speaker and Mayor of New York City must approve it in order to move forward."

But state lawmakers James Skoufis and Jan Metzger said more money should be allotted for the commuter rail lines west of the Hudson River. The plan includes $187 million for infrastructure needed to allow reverse-peak and better off-peak service, including state-of-good-repair needs, and support up to 60 percent future growth in daily service.

“With the capital plan now moving to the review board, we are continuing to speak with the MTA’s leadership and our legislative colleagues about improvements that ought to be made to the current proposal in order to ensure west-of-Hudson gets its fair share and is able to increase train service. Our conversations have been positive and we are optimistic that once negotiations are complete, we will deliver the most robust west-of-Hudson capital program in the agency’s history.”

Most of the money for Metro-North would go to extend New Haven Line access to Penn Station through New Rochelle. The rest begins reconstruction of the Grand Central Terminal train shed and Park Avenue tunnel and viaduct, begins replacement of Metro-North’s fleet of M3 rail cars, improves stations, and prepares for capacity improvements on the Harlem Line and Port Jervis Line.

• Grand Central Terminal Trainshed and Park Avenue Tunnel and Viaduct | $895 million | Metro-North will pursue Phase 1 of the replacement of the 100+ year old structures used by more than 700 trains per day and 83 percent of customers, and build four new emergency exits. The Grand Central Trainshed is 75 acres under east Midtown, and the Park Avenue viaduct is 1.8 miles long, from 97th Street to the Harlem River.
• Stations Accessibility and Improvements | $621 million | Metro-North will add accessibility improvements at up to four stations, bringing wheelchair access to 78 percent of stations serving 93 percent of customers, renew stations on the Harlem Line in the Bronx and southern Westchester County, and make priority component repairs at stations on the upper Hudson Line and upper Harlem Line. This work will benefit 60 percent of customers.
• Rolling Stock | $485 million | The railroad will begin replacement of 140 M3 electric cars. New electric cars are expected to improve mechanical reliability of the fleet, mitigating up to 27% of delays.
• West of Hudson Improvements | $187 million | The railroad will pursue the phased construction of core infrastructure needed to allow reverse-peak and better off-peak service, including state-of-good-repair needs, and support the potential future increase in daily service of up to 60 percent.
• Harlem Line Capacity Improvements | $184 million | The plan will progress infrastructure work to improve reliability and support a future third track on the Harlem Line, including building two new electrical substations, designing three more, and relocating and expanding parking at Southeast Station to allow for future Brewster Yard expansion.

“The proposed 2020-24 Capital Program will allow Metro-North to continue its aggressive programs to upgrade its aging infrastructure and to improve the customer experience,” said Metro-North Railroad President Catherine Rinaldi.

The plan also includes:

• Henry Hudson Bridge Reconstruction | $135 million | Continuing reconstruction of the Henry Hudson Bridge, in combination with the implementation of open road tolling is expected to reduce potential collisions by up to 41% and save 73,000 daily customers up to 100,000 hours in annual travel time.
• MTA New York City Subways | $37.3 billion | The proposed capital program will modernize the subways by adding capacity, increasing reliability, and accelerating accessibility. The program includes full funding for Phase 2 of the Second Avenue Subway from a mixture of federal and local sources. Systemwide priority initiatives funded by the plan include signal modernization, new subway cars, station accessibility, station improvements, and track replacement.
• MTA New York City Buses | $3.5 billion |The proposed program calls for more than 2,400 new buses, depot improvements and customer experience upgrades. It accelerates the transition to a fleet composed fully of zero-emissions electric buses.