Residents and businesses on Manhattan’s far west side will finally see the light at the end of the tunnel on Sunday, with a new subway station opening that will eventually serve as many as 35,000 riders during rush-hour following almost eight years of construction.
The No. 7 train will leave the 34th Street-Hudson Yards stop on 11th Avenue during a ceremony Sunday morning. Normal service for riders will start around 1 p.m., the MTA said.
The city-funded station cost $2.42 billion, and brings the No. 7 line 1.5 miles to the new stop near the High Line and Hudson Yards development.
The MTA predicts that it will become the busiest station in its subway system.The station will serve the new apartments, offices, shops, and restaurants in the Hudson Yards area as the only station below 59th Street in Manhattan to go west of Ninth Avenue, the MTA said.
The No. 7 connects with 18 other subway lines across its route.
Former Mayor Michael Bloomberg took the No. 7 train for a run from Times Square to the new stop at the end of his term in Decemeber 2013, the month it was originally set to open. However, its debut had been delayed by the MTA’s struggles with installing incline elevators and safety systems.
The last subway extension was in 1989. The MTA added three new stations then to its map: 21st Street-Queensbridge, Roosevelt Island and Lexington Avenue-63rd Street.
