MTA Metro-North to buy land to expand Fordham Station platform
Written by jrood
Metro-North Railroad plans to buy a strip of land from Fordham University in order to widen and improve the outbound platform at the Fordham Station, where each morning almost 6,000 people board northbound trains to get to jobs in Westchester and Connecticut. After Harlem-125th Street, Fordham is the busiest station for reverse commutation, that is for people going north in the AM peak instead of into Manhattan. Over all, Fordham is Metro-North's third busiest outlying station, after Stamford and White Plains.
"The current
outbound platform is narrow and gets crowded during the morning rush,"
said Metro-North President Howard Permut. "This purchase will enable the
railroad to improve conditions for its Fordham customers."
The property became
available when Fordham built new dormitories and a retaining wall near the
platform. The wall created a strip of inaccessible land at the platform level
but below the level of the surrounding campus. (The tracks and platforms at
Fordham are in a "cut" below street level.)
The existing platform is
just eight feet wide in some places. A 515-foot-long section of the platform
will be widened to 20 feet and will be completely covered by a new, wider
canopy. The existing shelter will be replaced with a new one that is double in
size. The 220-foot-long portion of the platform that is under the station
building and Fordham Plaza cannot be widened. The total project cost is $14
million, including the purchase of the 7,128 square-foot parcel for $392,040.
"Metro-North and MTA
have worked closely with Fordham to secure this property and it is a
win-win-win, for the railroad, for the university and, most importantly, for
the customers," Permut said.
