N.Y.C. transit officials say they will open their New York City subway lines to a new group of people in 2019, and they plan to take part in the inaugural MetroLink train run in 2019.
The transit agency announced in a news release Tuesday that it will start offering a limited number of subway trains on the Blue Line from the West Side Highway to the Grand Central Terminal.
The announcement comes after a two-year-long push to expand MetroLink to the area and to bring a new subway line to Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island.
“The Blue Line is the most important line for our region,” said Bill O’Leary, a MetroLink spokesman.
“The Blue line has been one of our best performing lines for decades.
It connects to many of the same communities and services as the Blue line, but is more comfortable and has more amenities and services.”
MetroLink’s expanded service is part of a larger plan to improve the Blue, Silver and Gold lines.
MetroLink also plans to begin running subway trains to serve the communities of Brooklyn, New York, Queens, New Jersey and Staten Falls, New Hampshire, as part of the New York State Subway Extension.
MetroLink is one of the largest and fastest transit systems in the country, and the region’s transit system is considered one of its key transportation systems.
The expansion comes after MetroLink and the New Jersey Transit Authority signed a 10-year contract in 2017 to extend MetroLink services from New Jersey to New York.
Metro Link currently operates four lines through the New Brunswick, New Brunswick and Rockland counties, but in 2019 the agency plans to expand its service to six counties.
The agency will begin offering the new trains in 2019 and will operate them at least four days a week, according to the release.
The Blue, Gold and Silver lines are already operating at capacity due to the MetroLink expansion, but the Blue and Silver line are the only lines to use the new MetroLink trains, according the agency.
The New Jersey-based agency will provide additional train service between Newark and Newark Airport, as well as the New Hampshire-based New York-Pennissippi Corridor.
MetroLink also announced Tuesday that a $5.4 billion expansion of the BlueLine service, which runs from Newark to Brooklyn and ends at Manhattan’s JFK Airport, is underway.
That new line will also run to Staten Island, which was the last stop on the previous Blue Line.
“This new service will be a great example of how we’re transforming our rail system to take our people and their goods closer to where they need to go and what they need,” O’Brien said.