A 28-year dream to bypass Manhattan and link Brooklyn to Queens

Countries & Cities · Published 15 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: For decades, New Yorkers have had to travel through Manhattan just to move between Brooklyn and Queens. A new light rail project, the Interborough Express, aims to break this bottleneck, creating a direct 14-mile connection that promises to slash commute times for hundreds of thousands of residents.

The Interborough Express (IBX) is a proposed 14-mile light rail line designed to connect the Brooklyn Army Terminal in Bay Ridge with Jackson Heights in Queens. While the concept of a transit link between these boroughs dates back to a 1996 proposal by the Regional Plan Association, the project has faced significant hurdles. The original plan included a connection to the Bronx, but that segment was eliminated due to space constraints along Amtrak's Hell Gate Line. In 2020, the MTA began feasibility studies on the Bay Ridge Branch portion, eventually moving forward with a light-rail corridor design in 2023.

The project is currently in the design and engineering phase, which Governor Kathy Hochul launched in August 2023. A major focus of the current development is universal accessibility. The MTA is prioritizing upgrades at four non-accessible subway stations to ensure that all 18 new IBX stations will be fully accessible from day one.

These include Broadway Junction (estimated completion by end of 2027), Junius St (estimated by end of 2026), and Ave I (estimated by early 2028). A fourth station, Wilson Ave, will receive its accessibility improvements by mid-2027. The IBX is expected to serve more than 900,000 residents and provide a daily transit option for a projected 160,000 riders. Historically neglected areas are intended to benefit from the initiative, which offers links to the Long Island Rail Road plus 17 subway lines. To avoid traffic delays, the MTA recently announced a design change in August 2025 to construct a tunnel under All Faiths Cemetery, eliminating a proposed street-running segment that would have restricted trains to 25 miles per hour.

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