Written by Marybeth Luczak, Executive Editor
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on May 9 signed new legislation as part of the Fiscal Year 2026 Enacted Budget to fully fund the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (MTA) $68.4 billion 2025-29 Capital Plan, which includes breaking ground on the Interborough Express (IBX), which will run between Brooklyn and Queens; rehabilitating the Grand Central Artery, a four-mile stretch that carries 98% of all MTA Metro-North Railroad (MNR) service; and improving the overall rider experience.
The investment, MTA reported May 9, also covers:
- The “purchase thousands of new subway and railcars.”
- Modernization of signals “to provide faster, more frequent and more reliable service.”
- Upgrades to maintenance facilities.
- Renewal of electric power systems “to enhance reliability.”
- Repairs to “structurally deficient bridges and tunnels.”
- Delivery of “full ADA-accessibility improvements” at more than 65 subway and railroad stations.
- Safety improvements at stations and across infrastructure systems.
- Installation of modern fare gates at more than 150 stations to prevent fare evasion
- Growth in its zero-emissions bus fleet “to stay on track for a fully-electric fleet by 2040.”
- Increased “resiliency against flooding and protect the Hudson Line against severe weather.”
Specifically for MNR, the MTA’s capital plan will spend $6 billion on rolling stock (completing the replacement of 40-year-old railcars with new, fully accessible M9A trains for use on the Harlem and Hudson lines); station platforms and components (replacing and rehabilitating deteriorating station platforms and other major station components); and climate and weather protection (coordinating investments at the “most vulnerable” locations—including bridges, culverts, retaining walls, and shoreline structures—to reduce service disruptions and equipment damage caused by extreme weather). For Long Island Rail Road (LIRR), it will spend $6 billion on rolling stock (purchasing new railcars to allow MTA to retire 1980s-era M3 cars and provide for “more reliable new dual-mode locomotives”); power system improvements (replacing or renewing 16 substations making the system more reliable); and accessibility (achieving 98% accessibility by making four more stations accessible, including Bellerose, Douglaston, and Cold Spring Harbor).
Finally, MTA said its capital plan includes $800 million to advance regional investments that help create additional capacity, connect with underserved communities, and respond to changing populations and land-use patterns. “The plan supports projects to reduce conflicts at the nation’s busiest railway junction, electrification and capacity initiatives on the LIRR and MNR, and the evaluation and development of promising improvement and expansion projects,” it reported…