The plan to bring four Metro-North stations to the East Bronx crossed a major hurdle today after Governor Cuomo’s office announced that talks between the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Amtrak, which owns the existing tracks Metro-North operates, have ended with a deal.

Preliminary designs and a feasibility study that determines whether Amtrak can use its tracks on a daily basis will get underway for the project dubbed Penn Station Access, according to Cuomo’s office. Co-Op City, Morris Park, Parkchester, and Hunts Point will receive a station. These Metro-North trains will be re-routed to Penn Station instead of Grand Central Terminal.

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

VICTORY! @Amtrak and @MTA have come to an agreement that will allow East Bronx Metro-North access to move forward! Thank you @NYGovCuomo @SenSchumer and all of my colleagues in government for your support on this important issue! Read my full statement: https://on.nyc.gov/2T3wbyJ #mta #bronx #nyc #metronorth #vannest #morrispark #coopcity #huntspoint #parkchester #transit #westchester

A post shared by Ruben Diaz Jr (@ruben_diaz_jr) on Jan 22, 2019 at 8:23am PST

Cuomo, a supporter of building up the state’s transportation infrastructure, said the project will “build upon our ongoing efforts to fully transform our state’s transportation infrastructure.”

The news ends years of delays for the $1.3 billion project aimed at reducing travel times for East Bronx neighborhoods considered transit dealers. It also comes weeks after lawmakers mounted a pressure campaign for the MTA and Amtrak to finalize talks on the project that determined financial obligations needed to advance the project. A Memorandum if Understanding was signed by Amtrak, effectively clearing Metro-North to start the project.

“This is a long-held dream of mine and hundreds of thousands of Bronxites,” said Fernando Ferrer, acting MTA chair and former Bronx Borough President. “Needless to say, we salute Governor Cuomo’s leadership with Amtrak to let the MTA get this project moving.”

Current Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., one of the stronger voices in seeing the project through the recent pressure campaign, posted on Instagram, “Victory.”

The MTA Board’s Metro-North Committee also approved a $35 million contract with HNTB New York Engineering and Architecture for initial engineering and design of the project. The full MTA Board will decide whether to award the contract on Thursday. The Amtrak Board is also supposed to vote on the contract.

Even when the stations are built, residents won’t be able to board a train until the completion of another project, East Side Access, which would pull Long Island Rail Road trains out of Penn Station and divert them to a new terminal built underneath Grand Central Terminal. That project is expected to be completed in 2023.