NEW YORK—The federal government is reimbursing the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) for East River subway tunnel repairs, Sen. Charles Schumer announced Tuesday.
This is the first major reimbursement from the federal government. According to the MTA’s website, a total of nearly $400 million in reimbursements was given last year.
A total of $886 million was provided: $802 million for the Montague, Greenpoint, and Steinway subway tunnels, and $84.2 million for other projects to strengthen subway tunnels.
The R, G, and No. 7 trains use these tunnels and have service changes during repairs.
The Montague tunnel was most damaged, so the R train is not running between Court Street in Brooklyn and Whitehall Street in Manhattan until October 2014 as repairs continue.
The Greenpoint stop, where the G train runs through, had stalled weekend service for repairs last year.
The MTA currently has $500 million in repair contracts underway and $4 billion in planned projects that it will seek Federal Transportation Administration reimbursements from.
Last October, the MTA revised its capital program plan to add $5.8 billion in resiliency projects in addition to the $4.7 billion already approved by Gov. Andrew Cuomo for Sandy-related repairs.
