Hochul: Light rail project to link Brooklyn, Queens enters engineering/design phase

ALBANY — The Interborough Express project, the MTA’s first-ever light rail system connecting Brooklyn and Queens, officially kicked off Friday by entering the engineering and design phase, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced.

The rail system, known as IBX, will be built along an existing 14-mile freight line from Sunset Park to Jackson Heights and will include 19 stations and connect with 50 bus routes, two Long Island Rail Road stations and 17 different subway lines — the A, C, E, N, Q, R, 2, 3, 5, 7, B, D, F, M, J, Z and L trains.

It’s expected to serve 160,000 riders a day and reduce commute times between boroughs, with an end-to-end run time of 32 minutes, Hochul said in Brooklyn announcing the next step of the project.

"It’s about creating connections between communities. This is about bringing people together, that the outer boroughs are now joined," she said, noting that riders will be able to travel between boroughs without having to go through Manhattan first.

Construction is expected to cost $5.5 billion and will require the lifting of 48 bridges, as well as the conversion of tracks and signals, Hochul and Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials said.

The project originally was expected to be completed by 2027, according to an October 2024 announcement, but the completion date will be dependent on the length of the design phase.

The project design phase is the last step before construction begins. It includes the designing of communications and signals, vehicles, the track, stations, retaining walls and bridge reconstruction.

The MTA board on Wednesday authorized a nearly $166 million joint venture contract with Jacobs/HDR for the design and engineering project.

Hochul in April approved $2.75 billion for the project as part of the MTA’s 2025 to 2029 capital plan. A total of $45 million will go toward the design phase funded through the capital plan and the 2025 state budget, according to the governor’s office. The U.S. Department of Transportation additionally awarded a grant of $15 million for a corridor assessment and $1 million for finance expert services.

The IBX will be the first end-to-end rapid transit built within the city since the G line opened in 1937, the Brooklyn stations will be the first built since 1948 and the transit stations in Queens will be the first new stations since those built in 1988, Janno Lieber, MTA chair and CEO, said. "Today is a huge milestone. I am so proud that we’re moving back into the transit building business, the expansion business."