MTA to Study New Rail Service Connecting Brooklyn and Queens

(Bloomberg) -- New York Governor Kathy Hochul is proposing New York City get a new mass-transit rail line to connect parts of Brooklyn and Queens, where some residents must rely on buses for public transport to work and school.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which oversees the city’s subways, buses and commuter-rail lines, will begin an environmental review of the project, called the Interborough Express, after Hochul on Wednesday vowed to improve the city’s public transit during her State of the State address.

“The Interborough Express would be a transformational addition to Brooklyn and Queens, cutting down on travel time and helping neighborhoods and communities become cleaner, greener and more equitable,” Hochul said in a statement Wednesday.  

The plan would use an existing freight rail line that runs above ground through the two boroughs.

While most of the city’s subway lines move people in and out of Manhattan, the new rail line would help residents get around within the boroughs faster. It would serve an estimated 100,000 New Yorkers and connect to as many as 17 different subway lines and the Long Island Rail Road.

“This project would smartly repurpose existing infrastructure to add mass transit and create access to jobs, education, and opportunity for so many residents of Queens and Brooklyn,” Janno Lieber, the MTA’s acting chief executive officer, said in a statement. 

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.