MTA to Provide Updates on Planned Light Rail Between Brooklyn and Queens

By Yehudit Garmaise

Brooklynites who are interested in zipping to and from Queens quickly and easily might want to attend a virtual public town hall meeting the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is hosting Today, Aug. 16, from 6:30 to 7:30pm.

During the meeting, the MTA will update New Yorkers on the progress it has made in creating a Light Rail that could reduce travel times between Brooklyn and Queens by up to 30 minutes each way, depending on travel distance, the MTA reported.

The transit agency will explain the actions it has taken so far to build what it calls, “the Interborough Express,” which will “significantly reduce travel times within and between the two boroughs,” the MTA reported.

In addition, the new light rail transit project will connect neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Queens to 17 subway lines and the Long Island Rail Road.

To create the Interborough Express, the MTA plans to use the tracks that run along the Bay Ridge Branch, which is a freight rail line that runs right through Boro Park.

The project will include several new connections in neighborhoods that currently lack efficient connections to each other, and to Manhattan.  

Initial studies predict that the Interborough Express could serve up to 115,000 daily weekday riders, amounting to an annual ridership of approximately 40 million. 

Readers can register to attend the town hall here, and read more about the MTA’s plans for Interborough Express here.