MTA awards contract for Metro-North's Penn Station Access Project

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has awarded a design-build contract for the $2.87 billion Penn Station Access Project, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced yesterday.

When completed, the project will result in direct MTA Metro-North Railroad service from the Bronx, Westchester and Connecticut to Penn Station and Manhattan's west side, according to an MTA press release.

The contract was awarded to Halmar International LLC/RailWork J.V. The project calls for creating four new stations and turning the existing two-track railroad into a largely four-track railroad, with over 19 miles of new and rehabilitated trackwork.

"Access to Penn Station is completely transformative for Metro-North," said Catherine Rinaldi, the railroad's president. "This will be the railroad's largest expansion in history — four new stations is no small thing."

The project will give Metro-North's busiest line a second route into Manhattan for the first time, "redundancy that's all the more important as the railroad looks to pursue major capital renewal projects on the route to Grand Central [Terminal] – namely the Park Avenue Viaduct and the Park Avenue Tunnel," Rinaldi said.

In addition to the four new stations, the project involves four bridge rehabilitations, the reconfiguration of Metro-North's New Rochelle Yard, four new and one reconfigured interlockings, five new and two upgraded substations, and the modernization of signal, power and communication infrastructure.

In addition, the project will lead to improved regional transportation connections. As part of that effort, Amtrak will contribute $500 million to the project to bring its Hell Gate Line into a state of good repair, which will help improve reliability for intercity rail service, as well as prepare the corridor for high-speed rail.

Construction is expected to take 63 months.