ALBANY – State legislators from Orange County and a handful of county lawmakers have written to MTA Chairman Thomas Prendergast urging him to include two Metro-North Railroad projects in the county in the MTA’s next five-year capital program.
On Saturday, Governor Andrew Cuomo, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and Prendergast announced agreement on funding for the capital program to include $8.3 billion from the state and $2.5 billion from New York City.
Specifics of the plan were not released on Saturday.
The day before the agreement, four state Assembly members from Orange County and six county legislators signed a letter urging Prendergast to include two Metro-North projects in the plan – a midway yard along the Port Jervis line and passing sidings between the new yard and Suffern.
“The large majority of Orange County train ridership resides in the eastern half of Orange County, thus making a midway yard near the Campbell Hall or Salisbury Mills-Cornwall stations ideals,” the local officials wrote. “This will allow Metro-North the opportunity and capability to initiate and receive more frequent rides to passengers at the aforementioned two stations in addition to Harriman, Tuxedo, Sloatsburg and Suffern. Furthermore, the establishment of passing sidings along the Port Jervis line will allow trains to travel both to and from Orange County simultaneously; currently, a single rail on the Port Jervis line prohibits schedules from offering rides if a train is traveling in the opposite direction.”
The letter was signed by Assembly Members James Skoufis, Karl Brabenec, Aileen Gunther, and Frank Skartados, and Orange County legislators Myrna Kemnitz, John Vero, Matthew Turnbull, Kevin Hines, Christopher Eachus and Shannon Wong.
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