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7 Train Extension Likely Won't Open Until July, MTA Says

 Pictures of the 34th Street and 11th Avenue 7 train station were presented at an MTA board meeting Monday.
New 7 Train Station
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HELL’S KITCHEN — The long-awaited opening of the 7 train extension has been delayed yet again, this time likely into July, the MTA said.

The new subway station at West 34th Street and 11th Avenue is nearly complete, but safety tests may run into July, MTA executive Anthony D’Amico told an MTA board meeting Monday.

“We are working very diligently on a number of fronts to complete testing…however, due to the tightness of the schedule…and the uncertainties associated…it is very likely that the opening of the station will not occur until several weeks following the second quarter of 2015,” he said.

D’Amico cited alarms systems, CCTV and third rail testing as some of the work still being done.

“I cannot emphasize enough the complexity of testing these components,” he told the meeting.

D'Amico also said that construction at the Hudson Yards development could potentially cause further delays. 

Still, “all major construction work” is completed on the “massive three-level structure,” he said. Mosaics by artist Xenobia Bailey color the entrance to the new station, according to pictures presented at the meeting. The escalators go “50 percent deeper than anything we have today,” D’Amico said.

The new station also features elevators that travel on a diagonal incline.

Work began on the extension in 2007, and the new station was first set to open in December 2013.

Former Mayor Michael Bloomberg took the first ride on the 7 extension to the new station in December 2013 as one of his last acts as mayor. At that time, the station was set to open in the summer of 2014.