I was at a workshop this evening to talk about the new Metro North stations in The Bronx (
https://www1.nyc.gov/site/planning/plan ... north.page" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;). The people there were mostly city planners who were interested in the design of the stations themselves, not railroad people, so I wasn't able to find out what I wanted to know.
I gather the last big stumbling block is negotiations between Amtrak and Metro North about the use of the Amtrak trackage between New Rochelle and Sunnyside, but I was unable to find out what the issues are that are holding things up. Amtrak feels there's insufficient track capacity for both the existing NorthEast Corridor service and the new Metro North service. A third track will need to be built to handle the added load. Are there any fundamental technical issues here, or is it just a matter of who comes up with the cash to pay for the upgrade?
From what I can see, it looks like there used to be four tracks and two were torn up some time ago. So, I assume it's just a matter of relaying the track. Yeah, I know, that's not cheap, but at least the right-of-way already exists. The choke point looks like it'll be the Pelham Bay Bridge, which is only two tracks wide.