As part of this month’s real estate deals, Metro-North Railroad has requested to purchase 7128 square feet of land from Fordhma University in order to widen a platform that often suffers from overcrowding. This station — the second busiest for reverse commuters — sees nearly 6000 people board the northbound trains in the morning rush, but the current platform, just eight feet wide in some places, can barely contain the crowds. When Fordham University made the land available, the MTA jumped. “The current outbound platform is narrow and gets crowded during the AM rush,” Metro-North President Howard Permut said in a statement. “This purchase will enable the railroad to improve conditions for its Fordham customers.”
With this extra land, Metro-North plans to widen a 515-foot section of the platform to 20 feet and completely cover it with a new canopy. The remainder of the platform which is under the station building and Fordham plaza cannot be widened. The land itself will cost $392,000 to acquire, and the station renovation project will carry a $14-million pricetag. “Metro-North and MTA have worked closely with Fordham to secure this property and it is a win-win-win, for the railroad, for the university and most importantly for the customers,” Permut said.
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A good land acquisition if the outbound platform was that narrow to begin with. The resulting curvature of the platform may end up looking weird, but you deal with the limitations at the Fordham Road end.
Now the regular commuters will have to be weary about the upcoming reconstruction if this becomes a priority.