Mass Transit in New York City - Expansion Plans

Expansion Plans

There are several proposals for expanding the New York City transit system that are in various stages of planning or initial funding:

• PATH World Trade Center station, whose construction began in late 2005, will replace the PATH terminal destroyed in the September 11, 2001 attacks with a new central terminal designed by Santiago Calatrava that will allow easy transfer between the PATH system, several subway lines and proposed new projects. It is expected to serve 250,000 travelers daily.
• Moynihan Station would expand Penn Station into the James Farley Post Office building across the street.
• Second Avenue Subway, a new north-south line, first proposed in 1929, would run from 125th Street to Hanover Square in lower Manhattan.
• 7 Subway Extension, a project to extend the IRT Flushing Line from Times Square to the West Side. It will be finished in 2013.
• East Side Access project, would route some Long Island Rail Road trains to Grand Central Terminal instead of Penn Station. Since many LIRR commuters work on the east side of Manhattan, many in walking distance of Grand Central, this proposal would save considerable travel time and would reduce congestion at Penn Station and on subway lines connecting it with the east side.
• Fulton Center, a $1.4 billion project in Lower Manhattan that will improve access to and connections between 11 subway routes, PATH service and the World Trade Center site. Construction began in 2005 and will be finished in 2014.
• Gateway Project would add a second pair of railroad tracks to the Northeast Corridor under the Hudson River from New Jersey, connecting to an expanded Penn Station.
• AirTrain JFK to lower Manhattan would extend the existing Long Island Rail Road line from Jamaica Station to downtown Manhattan via a new 3-mile tunnel under the East River. AirTrain-compatible cars would run along the new route, connecting John F. Kennedy International Airport and Jamaica with lower Manhattan.
• Although New York City has not had light rail since the middle 20th century, there was a proposal in 2009 to convert 42nd Street into a light rail transit mall which would be closed to all vehicles except emergency vehicles. The idea was previously planned in the early 1990s, and was approved by the City Council in 1994 but cancelled due to lack of funds. A Staten Island light rail system connecting to the Hudson–Bergen Light Rail over the Bayonne Bridge has also been proposed.