No. 7 Train Extension, Hudson Yards Station To Open Sunday
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- At long last, the extension of the No. 7 train will make its first stop at the new Hudson Yards Extension on Sunday.
Almost two years after its initial promised opening date, the 34th Street-Hudson Yards subway stop at 34th Street and Eleventh Avenue, which extends the route of the No. 7 train, is ready for business.
Officials were expected for a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Sunday and train service scheduled to start in the early afternoon.
The station on the Far West Side extends the No. 7 train 1 1/2 miles past its current last stop in Times Square. It's the first station added to the system in more than 25 years.
Metropolitan Transportation Authority spokesman Kevin Ortiz said the extension cost nearly $2.4 billion -- almost entirely funded by the city. But he said it will all be worth it.
"Given the cost, but more importantly, given the return that the city as a whole is going to get on that cost, it's really a no-brainer. And at the end of the day, it's really a bargain for the residents and visitors alike of New York City," he said.
The station was built using modern construction to allow for more space, Ortiz said.
"It's the station of the future," he said. "It's a station of so many firsts – everything from wide-open, column-free spaces to the first station that actually has incline elevators; beautiful mosaic artwork."
It was also built with an eye toward a greater volume of subway riders in the future, Ortiz added.
"We anticipate about 32,000 daily entries and exits at the station, but the way that it was designed, the station can actually accommodate 25,000 riders during one peak hour," he told WCBS 880.
Late last month, riders at Grand Central Station said they could not wait for a train to take them west beyond Tines Square. It will be a smooth transition from the Metro-North Railroad.
The extension will be perfect for Edwina Osbourne of the Bronx.
"Right now, to get over to the West Side, you take the shuttle -- and you're limited," she said. "So having it extend all the way to Eleventh Avenue, I think, it's great."
And there is a lot happening on Eleventh Avenue other than the construction of new towers. There is also the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, The High Line, the Megabus pickup point, and a brand new park that will have another future entrance to the station.
The area is undergoing a major redevelopment with the construction of the 28-acre Hudson Yards retail and residential project.
The excitement also stretches to Queens, where Justin Kulo of Long Island City could not wait to take the No. 7 train to the new end of the line.
"To get to, for example, the Meatpacking District, you want to be able to go all the way west," Kulo said late last month.
One thing riders and residents on the Far West Side would have liked to see is an additional stop between 34th Street and Times Square -- on 41st Street and Tenth Avenue -- before the train makes the turn south.
That it could still happen with enough money, as could more stations downtown. However, the MTA said are no plans at this time for additional 7 Train stops.
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