By Serena Solomon
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MIDTOWN — Metro-North Railroad is looking for locations on the West Side to build two stations on a new commuter line that would link Penn Station to New York's northern suburbs.
The new Metro-North line would utilize existing Amtrak tracks. One station would likely be at W. 125th Street for an above-ground station and the second would possibly be underground somewhere between W. 51st and W. 59th Streets, transit officials said.
"Our study team is looking at the whole west side for a suitable location," said Metro-North Railroad spokeswoman Marjorie Anders. She said many areas were unsuitable because of curves in the tracks and deep building foundations.
There is currently no timeline for the project, but Metro-North wants to be ready to take advantage of platform space in Penn Station when some Long Island Rail Road service moves over to Grand Central Terminal after a new concourse and connecting tunnel are built. That project is scheduled to be completed by 2016.
Currently, Metro-North service operates mostly out of Grand Central, sending trains up into the Bronx, Westchester and Connecticut.
Andrew Albert, co-chair of Community Board 7's transportation committee, said Metro-North locations would be a positive thing for West Side residents.
"125th Street is a natural location for a station, as it will save a lot of traveling to Penn Station or Grand Central to get to Westchester," said Albert in an e-mail to DNAinfo.
Anders, of Metro-North, said the agency has identified three markets the West Side stations would service: suburbanites who work on the West Side, Manhattanites who work in the suburbs, and weekend visitors to Manhattan headed to cultural spaces such as Lincoln Center and the American Museum of Natural History.
