Spending includes Hudson Line upgrades
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority on Wednesday (Sept. 25) approved a $68 billion capital plan that runs through 2029 and will shore up Metro-North’s Hudson Line to better withstand the effects of global warming.
“The board is pretty proud of this plan,” said Neal Zuckerman, a Philipstown resident who represents Putnam County on the board and heads its finance committee. “It’s $13 billion larger than our last capital plan. It’s equally balanced between the Long Island Railroad and Metro-North. That hasn’t been the case in a long time, even though our ridership is basically the same.”
The only outstanding question — which was also on the table for the previous plan, which covered 2020 to 2024 — is where the money will come from. Many projects from the previous plan are on hold because Gov. Kathy Hochul in June “paused” a congestion-pricing plan that had been expected to provide the MTA with $15 billion for capital projects. Hochul vowed to replace that funding but has not said how it will be done.
The new capital plan does not have any funding from congestion pricing in it. Zuckerman said that the board has identified where about half the funding it needs will come from. “It’s the responsibility of the governor and the Legislature to come up with” the rest, he said.
The new plan mostly sticks to maintenance and upgrades instead of initiatives, except for a project to convert a lightly used freight line into a commuter rail connecting Roosevelt Avenue in Queens with the Brooklyn Army Terminal.
For the Hudson Line, which includes Metro-North stops in Garrison, Cold Spring and Beacon, the plan allocates $800 million toward improvements recommended earlier this year in its Climate Resilience Roadmap. They include rehabilitating shorelines, stabilizing slopes and improving drainage. Hudson Line riders have faced delays because of flooding and mudslides caused by increasingly frequent extreme weather.
The plan also includes an upgrade to the Brewster train yard that will allow the Hudson Line to utilize the next generation of railcars. Zuckerman said there are still subway and railcars in use that went into service 40 years ago, when the MTA unveiled its first capital plan. Upgrading the cars should increase what he said is riders’ No. 1 concern: reliability.
“What riders care about the most is on-time performance: ‘Did I arrive on time?’ ‘Did I arrive safely?’ ‘Was my ride smooth and comfortable?’” Zuckerman said. “Even with its older cars, the MTA delivers on that mission. The problem is, when the cars reach a certain age, the maintenance costs become prohibitive.”
