Support for Metro-North Line in Bronx and to Penn Station (Published 2014)

A sweeping expansion of the Metro-North Railroad that would add four stations in the Bronx and connect the New Haven line to Pennsylvania Station has won the support of a significant ally: Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo.

Mr. Cuomo discussed the plan, a version of which has been studied for years by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and other transit planners, in his State of the State address on Wednesday. He called the project a way “to bring transit options to the Bronx.”

The new stations would be built in Co-op City, Morris Park, Parkchester and Hunts Point, drawing on a combination of new and existing tracks. But the proposal remains a long way from completion. The cost is expected to exceed $1 billion, according to an administration official, and Mr. Cuomo is seeking federal disaster recovery aid to pay for the bulk of the project.

Crossing over the East River on the Hell Gate Bridge, which carries Amtrak passenger trains and freight trains, the proposed expansion of the New Haven line would jut into Queens before its approach to Penn Station, the official said.

Some stretches of additional track would have to be laid.

Amtrak declined to comment on Wednesday. Some lawmakers from Long Island have in the past expressed concerns about opening Penn Station, where the Long Island Rail Road ends its runs, to Metro-North.

One of the transportation authority’s biggest projects, expected to be completed in 2019, is its East Side Access plan to connect the Long Island Rail Road to Grand Central Terminal, which Metro-North now serves.