Cross-Harbor Rail Tunnel
Encyclopedia
The Cross-Harbor Rail Tunnel (also known as the Cross Harbor Rail Freight Tunnel) is a proposed freight rail transport tunnel
under Upper New York Bay
in the Port of New York and New Jersey
between northeastern New Jersey
and Long Island
, including southern and eastern New York City
.
and nearby areas of the United States
have long been limited. At present, freight trains from the west and south destined for New York City
(except for Staten Island), Long Island and Connecticut
must cross the Hudson River
using the Alfred H. Smith Memorial Bridge
which is 140 miles (225 km) north of New York City at Selkirk
, New York
, making a 280-mile detour known as the "Selkirk hurdle
." Partly as a result, less than 3% by weight of the area's freight is said to move by rail. The former Pennsylvania Railroad
planned a freight railroad tunnel between Brooklyn
and Staten Island
in 1893, but the project was never carried out. Attempts by government planners to revive the project from the 1920s through the 1940s did not succeed. The Pennsylvania Tunnel and Terminal Railroad
tunnels through New York Penn Station, generally used only for passenger trains, were used for freight during World War I
to relieve congestion at the barge transport
docks
. Proposals for a cross-harbor tunnel were floated as early as the 1920s.
In the early 1990s, U.S. Rep Jerrold Nadler
revived interest in direct connection of rail freight to Long Island, hoping to reduce truck traffic through Manhattan. With support from the City government
, the New York City Economic Development Corporation
commissioned a study of rail freight traffic across New York Harbor
. The Cross Harbor Freight Movement Major Investment Study received $4 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation
and $1 million from the New York City Industrial Development Agency. Edwards and Kelcey, a transportation engineering firm in Morristown, NJ
, was hired to study the feasibility of alternative approaches to increased rail access for freight.
The idea of a cross-harbor rail tunnel also received support from Connecticut
transportation planners, who believed such a rail connection would reduce truck traffic on the heavily congested Connecticut Turnpike
.
The proposed tunnel would primarily serve Long Island, which includes the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens as well as Nassau and Suffolk counties, with a combined population of 7.7 million. It is served by the Long Island Rail Road
, the busiest commuter railroad in North America. Rail freight service on Long Island is provided by the New York and Atlantic railroad (NYA), which operate on LIRR tracks and carries about 20,000 carloads each year. The NYA connects with CSX Transportation
via the Hell Gate Bridge
to CSX Transportation's Oak Point Yard
in the Bronx. It also connects to CSX and Norfolk Southern in the Greenville section of Jersey City, NJ, via a cross harbor float barge service, the New York New Jersey Rail, LLC, currently owned by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
.
The New York City boroughs of the Bronx and Staten Island have active rail freight connections, via the Oak Point Link
and the Arthur Kill Vertical Lift Bridge
, respectively. The later connects Staten Island with rail lines west of the Hudson, but there are no rail connections between Staten Island and the rest of New York City or Long Island. Manhattan last saw freight service in 1983. The West Side freight line
was converted to passenger service in 1991, with the West Side freight yards replaced by Trump Place
and the elevated portion south of 30th street converted into High Line Park.
and Staten Island
and between Brooklyn
and Jersey City
, plus increased barge transport
of railcars across New York Harbor
. It estimated a pair of tunnels between Jersey City and Brooklyn to cost $2.15 billion, not including track connections or track improvements. Despite the length of the tunnels being considered, up to 17000 ft (5,182 m), the study found that providing enough ventilation
to operate diesel locomotive
s would be practical.
Probably mindful of environmental
issues that were key elements in the 1985 cancellation of the Westway project, the New York City Industrial Development Agency
commissioned an environmental assessment. This assessment found that immersed tube
construction would be environmentally more hazardous and more expensive than bored tunnel
construction. Ventilation was confirmed as practical and found unlikely to present greater hazards than fumes from truck
s that would otherwise be used to transport freight.
Following the feasibility and environmental
studies, two organizations were formed to plan and promote a tunnel project and to seek government funding
. They are the Cross Harbor Freight Movement Project, hosted by the STV Group, a construction firm in New York City
and Douglassville
, Pennsylvania
, and the Cross-Harbor Tunnel Coalition, also known as "MoveNYNJ" or "Move NY & NJ". The Cross Harbor Freight Movement Project is supported by funds from the U.S. Federal Highway Administration
, the U.S. Federal Railroad Administration
and the New York City Economic Development Corporation
, while the Cross-Harbor Tunnel Coalition is a voluntary organization of business, union and political leaders. Political activity led to authorization of $100 million for a Cross Harbor Rail Freight Tunnel as a federal transportation project in the U.S. Transportation Equity Act of 2005.
The proposed Cross-Harbor Rail Tunnel tubes would be large enough to take double-stacked
container cars. As of 2004, according to the Cross Harbor Freight Movement Project, the alignment
favored for a Cross-Harbor Rail Tunnel was between portals (access points) located in Conrail's Greenville Yard in Jersey City
and along the Long Island Rail Road
's Bay Ridge Branch
at 65th St in Brooklyn
, crossing the middle of the Upper Harbor
, with a length of 5.5 mi (8.9 km).
During the environmental assessment, existing rail infrastructure
was surveyed for compatibility with a Cross-Harbor Rail Tunnel. Parts of the existing trackage
need repair. Some rights of way
have been reduced to single-track width or were never wider and are in deteriorating condition due to their little use and maintenance. Nearly all track segments lack enough clearance above the tracks for the envisaged double-stacked container cars. Such factors limit the effective capacity of a rail tunnel and will add substantial cost to overcome. Rail yards east of New York Harbor
lack a trans-shipment terminal
with enough capacity to transfer the freight coming through a Cross-Harbor Rail Tunnel to trucks. A proposal was generated to acquire 100 acres (40.5 ha) of land to build one in West Maspeth
, Queens
. According to the Cross Harbor Freight Movement Project, project costs, including rail line connections and upgrades, will be substantially more than costs given in summer 2000 for just tunnels. They have been estimated at between $4.8 and $7.4 billion.
Studies performed for the Cross-Harbor Rail Tunnel say about 30,000 truck
s per day cross the George Washington Bridge
and the Verrazano Narrows Bridge going to or from parts of Long Island
, including Queens
and Brooklyn
, or about 10 million trucks per year, and the capacity of the proposed rail tunnel to carry freight is equivalent to between 0.5 and 1.0 million trucks per year. If these estimates are accurate, then at full capacity the proposed rail tunnel could reduce truck
traffic
between 5 and 10%.
with a tunnel would provide little traffic
reduction relative to its high cost. The West Maspeth
facility has been heavily criticized. It is proposed for an industrial site about four blocks south of the interchange
between the Long Island Expressway
(I-495) and the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (I-278), where Nichols Copper and later Phelps Dodge operated a copper
refinery for decades. The copper plant closed in 1983, and the site has been largely vacant since then, although a new food warehouse
was completed at its eastern end in 2005. It abuts the heavily polluted Newtown Creek
.
Although the Cross-Harbor tunnel terminal site is close to two major highway
s and existing rail, many access routes pass through residential neighborhoods. Based on the estimates of the rail tunnel's capacity, traffic
to and from the site could reach thousands of truck
trips per day. However, most of those trucks already travel through those highways to use the existing bridge connection.
Spokespersons for neighborhoods in Brooklyn
and Queens
strongly object to land being designated for a trans-shipment terminal
or other railroad uses and to the noise and vibration expected from passage of up to 1,600 rail cars per day. Reacting to these criticisms, in March 2005 New York City
Mayor Michael Bloomberg
announced that he opposed the rail tunnel project. However, in early July, 2007, Mayor Bloomberg told Rep. Nadler, he would be willing to take another look at the plan.
Tunnel
A tunnel is an underground passageway, completely enclosed except for openings for egress, commonly at each end.A tunnel may be for foot or vehicular road traffic, for rail traffic, or for a canal. Some tunnels are aqueducts to supply water for consumption or for hydroelectric stations or are sewers...
under Upper New York Bay
Upper New York Bay
Upper New York Bay, or Upper Bay, is the traditional heart of the Port of New York and New Jersey, and often called New York Harbor. It is enclosed by the New York City boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Staten Island and the Hudson County, New Jersey municipalities of Jersey City and Bayonne.It...
in the Port of New York and New Jersey
Port of New York and New Jersey
The Port of New York and New Jersey comprises the waterways in the estuary of the New York-Newark metropolitan area with a port district encompassing an approximate area within a radius of the Statue of Liberty National Monument...
between northeastern New Jersey
Gateway Region
The Gateway Region is located in the northeastern part of State of New Jersey in the United States of America. The area encompasses Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Passaic, Union and Middlesex counties...
and Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
, including southern and eastern New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Background
Direct connections for rail freight between Long IslandLong Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
and nearby areas of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
have long been limited. At present, freight trains from the west and south destined for New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
(except for Staten Island), Long Island and Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
must cross the Hudson River
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
using the Alfred H. Smith Memorial Bridge
Alfred H. Smith Memorial Bridge
The Alfred H. Smith Memorial Bridge is a railroad bridge spanning the Hudson River at Castleton-on-Hudson and Selkirk, New York in the United States....
which is 140 miles (225 km) north of New York City at Selkirk
Selkirk, New York
Selkirk is a hamlet in the town of Bethlehem, Albany County, New York. It is located south of the city of Albany, it is an suburb of that city....
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, making a 280-mile detour known as the "Selkirk hurdle
Selkirk hurdle
The Selkirk Hurdle is the term used by urban planners, railroad employees, politicians and others to describe the route that must be taken by freight trains traveling between New York City or other points in downstate New York and points in the United States west of the Hudson River...
." Partly as a result, less than 3% by weight of the area's freight is said to move by rail. The former Pennsylvania Railroad
Pennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad was an American Class I railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy", the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
planned a freight railroad tunnel between Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
and Staten Island
Staten Island
Staten Island is a borough of New York City, New York, United States, located in the southwest part of the city. Staten Island is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull, and from the rest of New York by New York Bay...
in 1893, but the project was never carried out. Attempts by government planners to revive the project from the 1920s through the 1940s did not succeed. The Pennsylvania Tunnel and Terminal Railroad
Pennsylvania Tunnel and Terminal Railroad
The New York Tunnel Extension , was a major project of the Pennsylvania Railroad at the beginning of the 20th century, to improve railroad access throughout the greater New York City area...
tunnels through New York Penn Station, generally used only for passenger trains, were used for freight during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
to relieve congestion at the barge transport
Car float
A railroad car float or rail barge is an unpowered barge with rail tracks mounted on its deck. It is used to move railroad cars across water obstacles, or to locations they could not otherwise go, and is pushed by a towboat or towed by a tugboat...
docks
Ferry slip
A ferry slip is a specialized docking facility that receives a ferryboat or train ferry. A similar structure called a barge slip receives a barge or car float that is used to carry wheeled vehicles across a body of water....
. Proposals for a cross-harbor tunnel were floated as early as the 1920s.
Jerrold Nadler
Jerrold Lewis "Jerry" Nadler is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1992. He is a member of the Democratic Party.The district includes the west side of Manhattan from the Upper West Side down to Battery Park, including the site where the World Trade Center stood...
revived interest in direct connection of rail freight to Long Island, hoping to reduce truck traffic through Manhattan. With support from the City government
Government of New York City
The government of New York City is organized under the City Charter and provides for a "strong" mayor-council system. The government of New York is more centralized than that of most other U.S...
, the New York City Economic Development Corporation
New York City Economic Development Corporation
New York City Economic Development Corporation is a non-profit local development corporation that promotes economic growth across New York City's five boroughs. It is the City's official Economic development corporation, charged with using the City's assets to drive growth, create jobs, and...
commissioned a study of rail freight traffic across New York Harbor
New York Harbor
New York Harbor refers to the waterways of the estuary near the mouth of the Hudson River that empty into New York Bay. It is one of the largest natural harbors in the world. Although the U.S. Board of Geographic Names does not use the term, New York Harbor has important historical, governmental,...
. The Cross Harbor Freight Movement Major Investment Study received $4 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation
United States Department of Transportation
The United States Department of Transportation is a federal Cabinet department of the United States government concerned with transportation. It was established by an act of Congress on October 15, 1966, and began operation on April 1, 1967...
and $1 million from the New York City Industrial Development Agency. Edwards and Kelcey, a transportation engineering firm in Morristown, NJ
Morristown, New Jersey
Morristown is a town in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the town population was 18,411. It is the county seat of Morris County. Morristown became characterized as "the military capital of the American Revolution" because of its strategic role in the...
, was hired to study the feasibility of alternative approaches to increased rail access for freight.
The idea of a cross-harbor rail tunnel also received support from Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
transportation planners, who believed such a rail connection would reduce truck traffic on the heavily congested Connecticut Turnpike
Connecticut Turnpike
The Connecticut Turnpike, known now as the Governor John Davis Lodge Turnpike, is a freeway in Connecticut that runs from Greenwich to Killingly. It is signed as Interstate 95 from the New York state line at Greenwich to East Lyme, and then as Interstate 395 from East Lyme to Plainfield...
.
The proposed tunnel would primarily serve Long Island, which includes the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens as well as Nassau and Suffolk counties, with a combined population of 7.7 million. It is served by the Long Island Rail Road
Long Island Rail Road
The Long Island Rail Road or LIRR is a commuter rail system serving the length of Long Island, New York. It is the busiest commuter railroad in North America, serving about 81.5 million passengers each year. Established in 1834 and having operated continuously since then, it is the oldest US...
, the busiest commuter railroad in North America. Rail freight service on Long Island is provided by the New York and Atlantic railroad (NYA), which operate on LIRR tracks and carries about 20,000 carloads each year. The NYA connects with CSX Transportation
CSX Transportation
CSX Transportation operates a Class I railroad in the United States known as the CSX Railroad. It is the main subsidiary of the CSX Corporation. The company is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, and owns approximately 21,000 route miles...
via the Hell Gate Bridge
Hell Gate Bridge
The Hell Gate Bridge or Hell's Gate Bridge is a steel through arch railroad bridge between Astoria in the borough of Queens and Randall's and Wards Islands in New York City, over a portion of the East River known...
to CSX Transportation's Oak Point Yard
Oak Point Yard
The Oak Point Yard is a freight railroad yard located in the South Bronx, New York City. The yard is owned by CSX Transportation, and is a base for CSX's local deliveries in the area, including to the Hunts Point Cooperative Market and for trains that interchange freight with the New York and...
in the Bronx. It also connects to CSX and Norfolk Southern in the Greenville section of Jersey City, NJ, via a cross harbor float barge service, the New York New Jersey Rail, LLC, currently owned by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is a bi-state port district, established in 1921 through an interstate compact, that runs most of the regional transportation infrastructure, including the bridges, tunnels, airports, and seaports, within the Port of New York and New Jersey...
.
The New York City boroughs of the Bronx and Staten Island have active rail freight connections, via the Oak Point Link
Oak Point Link
The Oak Point Link is a long railroad line in the Bronx, New York City, USA, along the east bank of the Harlem River. It connects the Metro-North Railroad's Hudson Line with the Harlem River Yard and the CSX Transportation Oak Point Yard at the north end of the Hell Gate Bridge.The line,...
and the Arthur Kill Vertical Lift Bridge
Arthur Kill Vertical Lift Bridge
The Arthur Kill Vertical Lift Railroad Bridge is a railroad-only, vertical lift bridge connecting Elizabethport, New Jersey and the Howland Hook Marine Terminal on Staten Island. The bridge was built by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in 1959 to replace an older swing span...
, respectively. The later connects Staten Island with rail lines west of the Hudson, but there are no rail connections between Staten Island and the rest of New York City or Long Island. Manhattan last saw freight service in 1983. The West Side freight line
West Side Line (NYCRR)
The West Side Line, also called the West Side Freight Line, is a railroad line on the west side of the New York City borough of Manhattan. North of Penn Station, from 34th Street, the line is used by Amtrak passenger service heading north via Albany to Toronto, Montreal and Chicago...
was converted to passenger service in 1991, with the West Side freight yards replaced by Trump Place
Trump Place
Riverside South is an apartment complex originated by Donald Trump and six civic partners on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, in New York City.The $3 billion project on a site between 59th Street and 72nd...
and the elevated portion south of 30th street converted into High Line Park.
Studies of feasibility and environmental issues
In its summer 2000 report, Edwards and Kelcey evaluated proposals for rail tunnels between BrooklynBrooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
and Staten Island
Staten Island
Staten Island is a borough of New York City, New York, United States, located in the southwest part of the city. Staten Island is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull, and from the rest of New York by New York Bay...
and between Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
and Jersey City
Jersey City, New Jersey
Jersey City is the seat of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States.Part of the New York metropolitan area, Jersey City lies between the Hudson River and Upper New York Bay across from Lower Manhattan and the Hackensack River and Newark Bay...
, plus increased barge transport
Car float
A railroad car float or rail barge is an unpowered barge with rail tracks mounted on its deck. It is used to move railroad cars across water obstacles, or to locations they could not otherwise go, and is pushed by a towboat or towed by a tugboat...
of railcars across New York Harbor
New York Harbor
New York Harbor refers to the waterways of the estuary near the mouth of the Hudson River that empty into New York Bay. It is one of the largest natural harbors in the world. Although the U.S. Board of Geographic Names does not use the term, New York Harbor has important historical, governmental,...
. It estimated a pair of tunnels between Jersey City and Brooklyn to cost $2.15 billion, not including track connections or track improvements. Despite the length of the tunnels being considered, up to 17000 ft (5,182 m), the study found that providing enough ventilation
Ventilation (architecture)
Ventilating is the process of "changing" or replacing air in any space to provide high indoor air quality...
to operate diesel locomotive
Diesel locomotive
A diesel locomotive is a type of railroad locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine, a reciprocating engine operating on the Diesel cycle as invented by Dr. Rudolf Diesel...
s would be practical.
Probably mindful of environmental
Environmental planning
Environmental Planning is the process of facilitating decision making to carry out development with due consideration given to the natural environmental, social, political, economic and governance factors and provides a holistic frame work to achieve sustainable outcomes.-Elements of environmental...
issues that were key elements in the 1985 cancellation of the Westway project, the New York City Industrial Development Agency
New York City Economic Development Corporation
New York City Economic Development Corporation is a non-profit local development corporation that promotes economic growth across New York City's five boroughs. It is the City's official Economic development corporation, charged with using the City's assets to drive growth, create jobs, and...
commissioned an environmental assessment. This assessment found that immersed tube
Immersed tube
An immersed tube is a kind of underwater tunnel composed of segments, constructed elsewhere and floated to the tunnel site to be sunk into place and then linked together. They are commonly used for road and rail crossings of rivers, estuaries and sea channels/harbours...
construction would be environmentally more hazardous and more expensive than bored tunnel
Tunnel boring machine
A tunnel boring machine also known as a "mole", is a machine used to excavate tunnels with a circular cross section through a variety of soil and rock strata. They can bore through anything from hard rock to sand. Tunnel diameters can range from a metre to almost 16 metres to date...
construction. Ventilation was confirmed as practical and found unlikely to present greater hazards than fumes from truck
Truck
A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, with the smallest being mechanically similar to an automobile...
s that would otherwise be used to transport freight.
Following the feasibility and environmental
Environmental planning
Environmental Planning is the process of facilitating decision making to carry out development with due consideration given to the natural environmental, social, political, economic and governance factors and provides a holistic frame work to achieve sustainable outcomes.-Elements of environmental...
studies, two organizations were formed to plan and promote a tunnel project and to seek government funding
Federal grant
In the United States, federal grants are economic aid issued by the United States government out of the general federal revenue. A federal grant is an award of financial assistance from a federal agency to a recipient to carry out a public purpose of support or stimulation authorized by a law of...
. They are the Cross Harbor Freight Movement Project, hosted by the STV Group, a construction firm in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and Douglassville
Douglassville, Pennsylvania
Douglassville is a community in Amity, Union Townships, and Douglass Townships Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. Douglassville is situated along U.S. Route 422. Developments include the Amity Gardens subdivision, the West Ridge subdivision, the Briarwood subdivision, and the subdivision...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, and the Cross-Harbor Tunnel Coalition, also known as "MoveNYNJ" or "Move NY & NJ". The Cross Harbor Freight Movement Project is supported by funds from the U.S. Federal Highway Administration
Federal Highway Administration
The Federal Highway Administration is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two "programs," the Federal-aid Highway Program and the Federal Lands Highway Program...
, the U.S. Federal Railroad Administration
Federal Railroad Administration
The Federal Railroad Administration is an agency in the United States Department of Transportation. The agency was created by the Department of Transportation Act of 1966...
and the New York City Economic Development Corporation
New York City Economic Development Corporation
New York City Economic Development Corporation is a non-profit local development corporation that promotes economic growth across New York City's five boroughs. It is the City's official Economic development corporation, charged with using the City's assets to drive growth, create jobs, and...
, while the Cross-Harbor Tunnel Coalition is a voluntary organization of business, union and political leaders. Political activity led to authorization of $100 million for a Cross Harbor Rail Freight Tunnel as a federal transportation project in the U.S. Transportation Equity Act of 2005.
Rail tunnel facilities and characteristics
Double-stack rail transport
Double-stack rail transport is a form of Intermodal freight transport where intermodal containers are stacked two high on railroad cars. Introduced in North America in 1984, double stack has become increasingly common, being used for nearly 70% of United States intermodal shipments...
container cars. As of 2004, according to the Cross Harbor Freight Movement Project, the alignment
Location (geography)
The terms location and place in geography are used to identify a point or an area on the Earth's surface or elsewhere. The term 'location' generally implies a higher degree of can certainty than "place" which often has an ambiguous boundary relying more on human/social attributes of place identity...
favored for a Cross-Harbor Rail Tunnel was between portals (access points) located in Conrail's Greenville Yard in Jersey City
Jersey City, New Jersey
Jersey City is the seat of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States.Part of the New York metropolitan area, Jersey City lies between the Hudson River and Upper New York Bay across from Lower Manhattan and the Hackensack River and Newark Bay...
and along the Long Island Rail Road
Long Island Rail Road
The Long Island Rail Road or LIRR is a commuter rail system serving the length of Long Island, New York. It is the busiest commuter railroad in North America, serving about 81.5 million passengers each year. Established in 1834 and having operated continuously since then, it is the oldest US...
's Bay Ridge Branch
Bay Ridge Branch
The Bay Ridge Branch is a rail line owned by the Long Island Rail Road and operated by the New York and Atlantic Railway in the U.S. State of New York...
at 65th St in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, crossing the middle of the Upper Harbor
Upper New York Bay
Upper New York Bay, or Upper Bay, is the traditional heart of the Port of New York and New Jersey, and often called New York Harbor. It is enclosed by the New York City boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Staten Island and the Hudson County, New Jersey municipalities of Jersey City and Bayonne.It...
, with a length of 5.5 mi (8.9 km).
During the environmental assessment, existing rail infrastructure
Infrastructure
Infrastructure is basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function...
was surveyed for compatibility with a Cross-Harbor Rail Tunnel. Parts of the existing trackage
Rail tracks
The track on a railway or railroad, also known as the permanent way, is the structure consisting of the rails, fasteners, sleepers and ballast , plus the underlying subgrade...
need repair. Some rights of way
Right-of-way (railroad)
A right-of-way is a strip of land that is granted, through an easement or other mechanism, for transportation purposes, such as for a trail, driveway, rail line or highway. A right-of-way is reserved for the purposes of maintenance or expansion of existing services with the right-of-way...
have been reduced to single-track width or were never wider and are in deteriorating condition due to their little use and maintenance. Nearly all track segments lack enough clearance above the tracks for the envisaged double-stacked container cars. Such factors limit the effective capacity of a rail tunnel and will add substantial cost to overcome. Rail yards east of New York Harbor
New York Harbor
New York Harbor refers to the waterways of the estuary near the mouth of the Hudson River that empty into New York Bay. It is one of the largest natural harbors in the world. Although the U.S. Board of Geographic Names does not use the term, New York Harbor has important historical, governmental,...
lack a trans-shipment terminal
Transshipment
Transshipment or Transhipment is the shipment of goods or containers to an intermediate destination, and then from there to yet another destination....
with enough capacity to transfer the freight coming through a Cross-Harbor Rail Tunnel to trucks. A proposal was generated to acquire 100 acres (40.5 ha) of land to build one in West Maspeth
Maspeth, Queens
Maspeth is a small community in the borough of Queens in New York City. Neighborhoods sharing borders with Maspeth are Woodside and Sunnyside to the north, Long Island City to the northwest, Greenpoint to the west, East Williamsburg to the southwest, Fresh Pond and Ridgewood to the south, and...
, Queens
Queens
Queens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....
. According to the Cross Harbor Freight Movement Project, project costs, including rail line connections and upgrades, will be substantially more than costs given in summer 2000 for just tunnels. They have been estimated at between $4.8 and $7.4 billion.
Studies performed for the Cross-Harbor Rail Tunnel say about 30,000 truck
Truck
A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, with the smallest being mechanically similar to an automobile...
s per day cross the George Washington Bridge
George Washington Bridge
The George Washington Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Hudson River, connecting the Washington Heights neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City to Fort Lee, Bergen County, New Jersey. Interstate 95 and U.S. Route 1/9 cross the river via the bridge. U.S...
and the Verrazano Narrows Bridge going to or from parts of Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
, including Queens
Queens
Queens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....
and Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, or about 10 million trucks per year, and the capacity of the proposed rail tunnel to carry freight is equivalent to between 0.5 and 1.0 million trucks per year. If these estimates are accurate, then at full capacity the proposed rail tunnel could reduce truck
Truck
A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, with the smallest being mechanically similar to an automobile...
traffic
Traffic
Traffic on roads may consist of pedestrians, ridden or herded animals, vehicles, streetcars and other conveyances, either singly or together, while using the public way for purposes of travel...
between 5 and 10%.
Criticism of rail tunnel plans
Some critics object that improving rail transportRail transport
Rail transport is a means of conveyance of passengers and goods by way of wheeled vehicles running on rail tracks. In contrast to road transport, where vehicles merely run on a prepared surface, rail vehicles are also directionally guided by the tracks they run on...
with a tunnel would provide little traffic
Traffic
Traffic on roads may consist of pedestrians, ridden or herded animals, vehicles, streetcars and other conveyances, either singly or together, while using the public way for purposes of travel...
reduction relative to its high cost. The West Maspeth
Maspeth, Queens
Maspeth is a small community in the borough of Queens in New York City. Neighborhoods sharing borders with Maspeth are Woodside and Sunnyside to the north, Long Island City to the northwest, Greenpoint to the west, East Williamsburg to the southwest, Fresh Pond and Ridgewood to the south, and...
facility has been heavily criticized. It is proposed for an industrial site about four blocks south of the interchange
Interchange (road)
In the field of road transport, an interchange is a road junction that typically uses grade separation, and one or more ramps, to permit traffic on at least one highway to pass through the junction without directly crossing any other traffic stream. It differs from a standard intersection, at which...
between the Long Island Expressway
Interstate 495 (New York)
Interstate 495 is an auxiliary Interstate Highway on Long Island in New York in the United States. The route extends for from the western portal of the Queens-Midtown Tunnel in the New York City borough of Manhattan to County Route 58 in Riverhead, Suffolk County...
(I-495) and the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (I-278), where Nichols Copper and later Phelps Dodge operated a copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
refinery for decades. The copper plant closed in 1983, and the site has been largely vacant since then, although a new food warehouse
Warehouse
A warehouse is a commercial building for storage of goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial areas of cities and towns. They usually have loading docks to load and unload...
was completed at its eastern end in 2005. It abuts the heavily polluted Newtown Creek
Newtown Creek
Newtown Creek is a estuary that forms part of the border between the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, in New York City, New York, United States. It derives its name from New Town , which was the name for the Dutch and British settlement in what is now Elmhurst, Queens...
.
Although the Cross-Harbor tunnel terminal site is close to two major highway
Highway
A highway is any public road. In American English, the term is common and almost always designates major roads. In British English, the term designates any road open to the public. Any interconnected set of highways can be variously referred to as a "highway system", a "highway network", or a...
s and existing rail, many access routes pass through residential neighborhoods. Based on the estimates of the rail tunnel's capacity, traffic
Traffic
Traffic on roads may consist of pedestrians, ridden or herded animals, vehicles, streetcars and other conveyances, either singly or together, while using the public way for purposes of travel...
to and from the site could reach thousands of truck
Truck
A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, with the smallest being mechanically similar to an automobile...
trips per day. However, most of those trucks already travel through those highways to use the existing bridge connection.
Spokespersons for neighborhoods in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
and Queens
Queens
Queens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....
strongly object to land being designated for a trans-shipment terminal
Transshipment
Transshipment or Transhipment is the shipment of goods or containers to an intermediate destination, and then from there to yet another destination....
or other railroad uses and to the noise and vibration expected from passage of up to 1,600 rail cars per day. Reacting to these criticisms, in March 2005 New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
Mayor Michael Bloomberg
Michael Bloomberg
Michael Rubens Bloomberg is the current Mayor of New York City. With a net worth of $19.5 billion in 2011, he is also the 12th-richest person in the United States...
announced that he opposed the rail tunnel project. However, in early July, 2007, Mayor Bloomberg told Rep. Nadler, he would be willing to take another look at the plan.
See also
- New York and Atlantic RailwayNew York and Atlantic RailwayThe New York and Atlantic Railway is a short line railroad formed in 1997 to provide freight service over the tracks of the Long Island Rail Road, a public commuter rail agency which had decided to privatize its freight operations...
- The current freight railroad operator on Long Island. - New York Cross Harbor RailroadNew York Cross Harbor RailroadNew York New Jersey Rail, LLC is a switching and terminal railroad that operates the only car float operation across New York Harbor between Jersey City, New Jersey and Brooklyn, New York...
- The former car floatCar floatA railroad car float or rail barge is an unpowered barge with rail tracks mounted on its deck. It is used to move railroad cars across water obstacles, or to locations they could not otherwise go, and is pushed by a towboat or towed by a tugboat...
(rail barge transport) operation.
- New York New Jersey Rail, LLC - The current car float operation.
- New York Tunnel Extension
- Pennsylvania Tunnel and Terminal RailroadPennsylvania Tunnel and Terminal RailroadThe New York Tunnel Extension , was a major project of the Pennsylvania Railroad at the beginning of the 20th century, to improve railroad access throughout the greater New York City area...
- The passenger tunnels to
New York Penn StationPennsylvania Station (New York City)Pennsylvania Station—commonly known as Penn Station—is the major intercity train station and a major commuter rail hub in New York City. It is one of the busiest rail stations in the world, and a hub for inbound and outbound railroad traffic in New York City. The New York City Subway system also...
.
External links
- Cross Harbor Freight Movement Project Several planning documents at this site.
- U.S. Federal Railroad Administration
- NYNJ Railroad