New stations slated for the proposed Interborough Express linking Brooklyn and Queens via light rail will feature multiple elevators and a modern look breaking from the century-old subway system’s aesthetic, according to new renderings shared with Gothamist, as the design phase of the multibillion-dollar project progresses.
The $5.5 billion project, still pending environmental reviews and other approvals, includes building 18 new stations along a former freight line between the two boroughs and converting the tracks into a mostly above-ground light-rail system.
According to the MTA, the project, nicknamed the IBX, will allow passengers to travel end-to-end from the Brooklyn Army Terminal to Roosevelt Avenue in 32 minutes while connecting to 17 different subway lines along the way.
A newly released rendering of the Interborough Express linking Brooklyn and Queens via light rail.
Metropolitan Transportation Authority
The new renderings depict a future station on New Utrecht Avenue in Borough Park and feature multiple elevators and wider fare gates. Each new station of the IBX will have durable floor tiles, elevators with wider cabs, enhanced station lighting, digital signage and improved audio announcements, according to the governor’s office.
“ This would be the first real, first end-to-end new transit line in New York City since 1937,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said in an interview with Gothamist.
According to the MTA, four subway stations connected to the IBX will also be fully accessible to people with disabilities by the time the project is complete: Junius Street and Livonia Avenue by the end of this year; Broadway Junction by the end of 2027; Avenue I by the beginning of 2028; and a contract has been awarded to make Wilson Avenue accessible by the middle of 2027.
A newly released rendering of the Interborough Express linking Brooklyn and Queens via light rail.
Metropolitan Transportation Authority
While the IBX doesn’t have a specific timeline for completion, officials have previously estimated service will be up and running in the 2030s. Half of the project has been funded by the MTA’s five-year construction plan.
Hochul said her administration is “committed to securing every dollar” it needs for the rest of the project, whether through the MTA’s next five-year capital plan or the federal government, “if the political climate changes, and I hope it does,” referring to tensions between New York policymakers and the Trump administration over congestion pricing and the Gateway tunnel.
The White House has opposed congestion pricing as an illegal tax on drivers and has repeatedly suspended federal funding for the Gateway project, which would build two new tunnels under the Hudson River. The White House has sometimes tied Gateway funding to unrelated issues, including funding for the Department of Homeland Security.
As the IBX design process continues, state officials said they would release a draft of the project’s “Environmental Impact Statement” in the fall, kickstarting public meetings for Brooklyn and Queens residents, allowing them to weigh in on the designs before construction begins.