Who doesn’t know about New York? I mean, it’s probably one of the cities we have seen the most in movies. So, whether you have visited New York or not, I’m sure you can picture it: skyscrapers, yellow taxis, the Statue of Liberty, and the subway. But, we should add another thing to this list, something the city is planning: the Interborough Express (IBX).
This is a fast train that promises connecting Brooklyn and Queens in just 32 minutes! And no, it won’t be necessary to go through Manhattan. Keep in mind now we are witnessing incredible means of transport, but this one will be so positive for New Yorkers. So, let’s find out more about this futuristic project, shall we?
Interborough Express
The IBX is a transport project that aims to directly join two of the most populated districts of New York: Brooklyn and Queens. Let’s see some of its features:
- It will be a 14-mile (22.5 km) light rail line.
- It will have 19 stations along the route.
- It will connect with 17 New York subway lines, 50 bus routes, and regional trains.
- The entire trip will take just 32 minutes.
In short, this means thousands of people will be able to save up to half an hour every single day. Isn’t it great?
Importance for people
Today, if you live in Brooklyn and work in Queens, most of the time you will have to go through Manhattan, which makes the journey way longer. However, this will stop with the arrival of the IBX, making your journeys faster and direct. So, these are the people who will benefit the most from this project:
- About 900,000 residents who live near the line.
- 260,000 workers who travel in those neighborhoods.
- Communities where: Over 70% of people are African American or Latino, half of households don’t own a car, many families live close to the poverty line, and one in four people has limited English skills.
How much does this project cost?
As you can imagine, this project is not cheap. In fact it’s a millionaire project, it’s estimated to cost about $5,500 millions. Good news is that a great part of the money is already secured:
- $2.75 billion will come from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (MTA) 2025–2029 Capital Plan.
- More millions will come from the New York state budget and federal programs.
Impact on New Yorkers’ everyday life
When the Interborough Express starts working, it is expected that 160,000 people use it every day, which means the train will do more than 48 million journeys per year. This will become the fastest train with more users in the entire United States. So, how does this translate for people?:
- Less time wasted commuting.
- Fewer unnecessary transfers through Manhattan.
- Better access to jobs, schools, and services for underserved neighborhoods.
The city that never stops
New York has always been known for being a city full of energy and its capacity of reinventing itself. As you have seen, the IBX is not just a regular train, it’s more than that, it’s a way of making the city more fair, faster and more connected.
Think about hopping on the train in Brooklyn and hopping off in Queens half an hour later. The most important thing? No stress, no transfer, and enough time to enjoy the city that never sleeps.
It is crazy to imagine it, right? But the plan for New York is to make it real. So next time you are asked by New York, you might want to add the IBX to the list of famous things about the city. Do you think this futuristic project is a great idea? We’ll see how this train turns out!