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West Side Line (NYCRR)
Encyclopedia
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
. South of Penn Station, a 1.45 mile (2.33 km) elevated section of the line abandoned since 1980 (popularly known as the High Line) is being transformed into an elevated park. The lower section from Gansevoort Street to 20th Street opened in 2009 and the second section up to 30th Street opened in 2011.
The West Side Line was built by the Hudson River Railroad, which completed the forty miles to Peekskill
on 29 September 1849, to Poughkeepsie
by the end of that year, and extended to Albany
in 1851. The city terminus was at the junction of Chambers
and Hudson Streets
; the track was laid along Hudson, Canal
, and West Streets, to Tenth Avenue
, which it followed to the upper city station at 34th Street
. Over this part of the right-of-way the rails were laid at grade along the streets, and since by the corporation regulations locomotives were not allowed to run, the cars were drawn by a dummy engine, which an 1851 description alleged consumed its own smoke. While passing through the city, the train of cars was preceded by a man on horseback, known as a "West Side cowboy" or "Tenth Avenue cowboy" who gave notice of its approach by blowing a horn.
At 34th street the right-of-way curved into Eleventh Avenue, the dumb engine was detached, and the regular locomotive took the train. As far as 60th Street, the track was at street level. The first cut was at Fort Washington Point. The railroad crossed Spuyten Duyvil Creek
on a drawbridge; a fatal wreck occurred there 13 January 1882 when the Atlantic Express, stopped on the line, was rear-ended by a local train, telescoping the last two palace cars, where the stoves and lamps were upset and ignited the woodwork and upholstery.
In 1867 the New York Central Railroad
and Hudson River Railroad were united by Cornelius Vanderbilt
, being merged in 1869 to form the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad. The railroad acquired the former Episcopal church's St. John's Park
property and built a large freight depot at Beach and Varick streets which opened in 1868. The tracks to south to Chambers street were then removed. In 1871 the Spuyten Duyvil and Port Morris Railroad opened, and most passenger trains were rerouted into the new Grand Central Depot via that line along the northeast bank of the Harlem River
and the New York and Harlem Rail Road, also part of the New York Central system. The old line south of Spuyten Duyvil remained for freight to the docks along Manhattan's west side and minimal passenger service to the West Side Station on Chambers Street
(used until 1916).
As the city grew, congestion worsened on the west side. Eventually plans were drawn up for a grade-separated line, along with a West Side Elevated Highway
. Work on the highway (named for Manhattan Borough President Julius Miller
who championed it) began in 1925, and the first section was dedicated June 28, 1934. This included a new elevated eight-track St. John's Park Freight Terminal several blocks north of the old one, with a south edge at Spring Street. From there an elevated structure carried two tracks north on the west side of Washington Street
, curving onto the east side of Tenth Avenue
at 14th Street
, then crossing Tenth Avenue at 17th Street
and heading north along its west side. Just south of the Penn Station rail yard
s, the line turned west on the north side of 30th Street, then north just east of the West Side Highway
. The northernmost bridge crossed 34th Street
, and a temporary alignment took it back to Eleventh Avenue
at 35th Street. The elevated line was built through the second or third floors of several buildings along the route. Others were served directly by elevated sidings. In 1937 the tracks along Eleventh Avenue were bypassed by a below-grade line, passing under the 35th Street intersection and running north just west of Tenth Avenue
before slowly curving northwest, passing under Eleventh Avenue at 59th Street
and rejoining the original alignment.
Until the 1930s, the line separated the Upper West Side from the Hudson River. In the 1930s, master
builder and urban planner Robert Moses
covered the line within the Freedom Tunnel
from 72nd Street north to 120th Street. His project, called the West Side Improvement, was twice as expensive as the Hoover Dam
and created the Henry Hudson Parkway
and an expansion of Riverside Park
.
North of the new alignment, the Henry Hudson Parkway and Riverside Park were built above the tracks from 72nd Street
north to near 123rd Street. The large 72nd Street Yard served as the dividing point between the two-track realignment and a wider four-track line to the north. North of 123rd Street, the line becomes elevated between the Henry Hudson Parkway and Riverside Drive
before returning to the surface and crossing under the Parkway to its west side near 159th Street. It continues along the shore of the Hudson River
to the Spuyten Duyvil Bridge
, a swing bridge
across the Harlem Ship Canal (Spuyten Duyvil Creek
), before merging with the Spuyten Duyvil and Port Morris Railroad just north of the bridge.
In addition to serving the industrial and dock areas of the Lower West Side, the line was the primary route for produce and meat into New York, serving warehouses in the West Village, Chelsea and the Meatpacking District, as well as serving the James Farley Post Office
and private freight services.
The New York Central Railroad
was merged into Penn Central in 1968 and Conrail in 1976. Conrail continued to operate freight along the West Side Line until the 1980s.
Donald Trump
optioned the 72nd Street Yard in 1974. Riverside South, the development project he ultimately began there, is the city's biggest private residential development. To obtain approval of his project, Trump agreed to build Riverside Park South on 23 acres (93,077.8 m²) of the yard and donate it to the city.
The line itself north of 31st Street was acquired by Amtrak. The southernmost part of the High Line (south of Bank St) had been removed in the 1960s; the structure from Bank St to Gansevoort St was removed some 20 years later. As of mid-2005, the rest of the High Line is owned by CSX, which acquired it after the 1999 breakup of Conrail.
Prior to construction of the Empire Connection, passenger trains traveling the Empire Corridor
via Albany
from Upstate New York
or beyond (including Chicago) into New York came into Grand Central Terminal
. Penn Station was on the separate Northeast Corridor
. (Penn Station could be reached from the Empire Corridor, but only via an impractical route from the Bronx
that then backtracked several miles to the north to a Northeast Corridor line.) Passengers traveling beyond New York on the Northeast Corridor were forced to transfer between Grand Central Terminal and Penn Station via shuttle bus, taxicab
or subway
.
When the West Side Yard
for the Long Island Rail Road
was built on the west side of Manhattan in 1986, a tunnel was built under it connecting Penn Station to the West Side Line just west of Tenth Avenue
, near the Javits Center. When additional funding later became available, one track along the northern part of the West Side Line was rebuilt for passenger service and termed the Empire Connection. A short section of track into Penn Station was electrified using third rail
and with overhead catenary
, since diesel locomotive
s are not allowed to operate in the station tunnel. A wye
was constructed to allow diesels to turn around. The Empire Connection allows trains traveling the Empire Corridor to reach Penn Station. The Empire Connection was double tracked north of 39th St to the Harlem River bridge in the mid-1990s.
On April 7, 1991, all Amtrak
Empire Service
trains started using the new Empire Connection into Penn Station. Beside being more convenient for passengers, this saved Amtrak the expense of operating two stations in New York City.
Metro-North Railroad
is studying ways it could also serve Penn Station. One alternative under study would run some Hudson Line commuter trains into Penn Station via the Empire Connection, possibly with new station stops at West 125th and West 62nd Streets.
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...
borough of Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
. North of Penn Station, from 34th Street
34th Street (Manhattan)
34th Street is a major cross-town street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, connecting the Lincoln Tunnel and Queens-Midtown Tunnel. Like many of New York City's major crosstown streets, it has its own bus routes and four subway stops serving the trains at Eighth Avenue, the trains at...
, the line is used by Amtrak
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...
passenger service heading north via Albany
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
to Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
and Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. South of Penn Station, a 1.45 mile (2.33 km) elevated section of the line abandoned since 1980 (popularly known as the High Line) is being transformed into an elevated park. The lower section from Gansevoort Street to 20th Street opened in 2009 and the second section up to 30th Street opened in 2011.
Hudson River Railroad
Peekskill, New York
Peekskill is a city in Westchester County, New York. It is situated on a bay along the east side of the Hudson River, across from Jones Point.This community was known to be an early American industrial center, primarily for its iron plow and stove products...
on 29 September 1849, to Poughkeepsie
Poughkeepsie (city), New York
Poughkeepsie is a city in the state of New York, United States, which serves as the county seat of Dutchess County. Poughkeepsie is located in the Hudson River Valley midway between New York City and Albany...
by the end of that year, and extended to Albany
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
in 1851. The city terminus was at the junction of Chambers
Chambers Street (Manhattan)
Chambers Street is a bi-directional street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It runs from River Terrace, Battery Park City, in the west, past PS 234 and Stuyvesant High School to 1 Centre Street, the Manhattan Municipal Building, to the east. In the early 20th century the street...
and Hudson Streets
Hudson Street (Manhattan)
Hudson Street is a north/south oriented street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. Running from TriBeCa to Greenwich Village and through Hudson Square, Hudson Street has two distinct one-way traffic patterns that meet at Abingdon Square, at the street's intersection with Eighth Avenue and...
; the track was laid along Hudson, Canal
Canal Street (Manhattan)
Canal Street is a major street in New York City, crossing lower Manhattan to join New Jersey in the west to Brooklyn in the east . It forms the main spine of Chinatown, and separates it from Little Italy...
, and West Streets, to Tenth Avenue
Tenth Avenue (Manhattan)
Tenth Avenue, known as Amsterdam Avenue north of 59th Street, is a north-south thoroughfare on the West Side of Manhattan in New York City. It carries uptown traffic as far as West 110th Street, also known as Cathedral Parkway for the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine...
, which it followed to the upper city station at 34th Street
34th Street (Manhattan)
34th Street is a major cross-town street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, connecting the Lincoln Tunnel and Queens-Midtown Tunnel. Like many of New York City's major crosstown streets, it has its own bus routes and four subway stops serving the trains at Eighth Avenue, the trains at...
. Over this part of the right-of-way the rails were laid at grade along the streets, and since by the corporation regulations locomotives were not allowed to run, the cars were drawn by a dummy engine, which an 1851 description alleged consumed its own smoke. While passing through the city, the train of cars was preceded by a man on horseback, known as a "West Side cowboy" or "Tenth Avenue cowboy" who gave notice of its approach by blowing a horn.
At 34th street the right-of-way curved into Eleventh Avenue, the dumb engine was detached, and the regular locomotive took the train. As far as 60th Street, the track was at street level. The first cut was at Fort Washington Point. The railroad crossed Spuyten Duyvil Creek
Spuyten Duyvil Creek
Spuyten Duyvil Creek is a channel connecting the Hudson River to the Harlem River Ship Canal, and on to the Harlem River in New York City, separating the island of Manhattan from the Bronx and the rest of the mainland. The neighborhood named Spuyten Duyvil lies to the north of the creek.Spuyten...
on a drawbridge; a fatal wreck occurred there 13 January 1882 when the Atlantic Express, stopped on the line, was rear-ended by a local train, telescoping the last two palace cars, where the stoves and lamps were upset and ignited the woodwork and upholstery.
In 1867 the New York Central Railroad
New York Central Railroad
The New York Central Railroad , known simply as the New York Central in its publicity, was a railroad operating in the Northeastern United States...
and Hudson River Railroad were united by Cornelius Vanderbilt
Cornelius Vanderbilt
Cornelius Vanderbilt , also known by the sobriquet Commodore, was an American entrepreneur who built his wealth in shipping and railroads. He was also the patriarch of the Vanderbilt family and one of the richest Americans in history...
, being merged in 1869 to form the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad. The railroad acquired the former Episcopal church's St. John's Park
St. John's Park
St. John's Park is a square in TriBeCa, Manhattan, New York City. It is currently bounded by Laight, Varick, Beach and Hudson Streets. The square has been used for many different purposes since the colonization of New Amsterdam in the early 17th century....
property and built a large freight depot at Beach and Varick streets which opened in 1868. The tracks to south to Chambers street were then removed. In 1871 the Spuyten Duyvil and Port Morris Railroad opened, and most passenger trains were rerouted into the new Grand Central Depot via that line along the northeast bank of the Harlem River
Harlem River
The Harlem River is a navigable tidal strait in New York City, USA that flows 8 miles between the Hudson River and the East River, separating the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx...
and the New York and Harlem Rail Road, also part of the New York Central system. The old line south of Spuyten Duyvil remained for freight to the docks along Manhattan's west side and minimal passenger service to the West Side Station on Chambers Street
Chambers Street (Manhattan)
Chambers Street is a bi-directional street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It runs from River Terrace, Battery Park City, in the west, past PS 234 and Stuyvesant High School to 1 Centre Street, the Manhattan Municipal Building, to the east. In the early 20th century the street...
(used until 1916).
Miller's Elevated West Side Highway
As the city grew, congestion worsened on the west side. Eventually plans were drawn up for a grade-separated line, along with a West Side Elevated Highway
West Side Elevated Highway
The West Side Elevated Highway was an elevated section of Route NY-9A running along the Hudson River in the New York City borough of Manhattan to the tip of the island.It was an elevated highway, one of the first urban freeways in the world, and served as a...
. Work on the highway (named for Manhattan Borough President Julius Miller
Julius Miller
Julius Miller was a Manhattan Borough President from 1922 to 1930, who is best remembered for pushing through the West Side Elevated Highway from 72nd Street to the tip of Manhattan....
who championed it) began in 1925, and the first section was dedicated June 28, 1934. This included a new elevated eight-track St. John's Park Freight Terminal several blocks north of the old one, with a south edge at Spring Street. From there an elevated structure carried two tracks north on the west side of Washington Street
Washington Street (Manhattan)
Washington Street is a north-south street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. Running from 14th Street in the Meatpacking District at its northernmost end to its southern end at Hubert Street in TriBeCa, Washington Street is, for its entire length, the westernmost street in lower Manhattan...
, curving onto the east side of Tenth Avenue
Tenth Avenue (Manhattan)
Tenth Avenue, known as Amsterdam Avenue north of 59th Street, is a north-south thoroughfare on the West Side of Manhattan in New York City. It carries uptown traffic as far as West 110th Street, also known as Cathedral Parkway for the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine...
at 14th Street
14th Street (Manhattan)
14th Street is a major crosstown street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The street rivals the size of some of the well-known avenues of the city and is an important business location....
, then crossing Tenth Avenue at 17th Street
17th Street (Manhattan)
17th Street is an east-west running street between First Avenue and Eleventh Avenue in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. Traffic runs one way along the street, from east to west excepting the stretch between Broadway and Park Avenue South, where traffic runs in both directions.17th Street...
and heading north along its west side. Just south of the Penn Station rail yard
Rail yard
A rail yard, or railroad yard, is a complex series of railroad tracks for storing, sorting, or loading/unloading, railroad cars and/or locomotives. Railroad yards have many tracks in parallel for keeping rolling stock stored off the mainline, so that they do not obstruct the flow of traffic....
s, the line turned west on the north side of 30th Street, then north just east of the West Side Highway
West Side Highway
The West Side Highway is a mostly surface section of New York State Route 9A that runs from West 72nd Street along the Hudson River to the southern tip of Manhattan. It replaced the West Side Elevated Highway, built between 1929 and 1951, which was shut down in 1973 due to neglect and lack of...
. The northernmost bridge crossed 34th Street
34th Street (Manhattan)
34th Street is a major cross-town street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, connecting the Lincoln Tunnel and Queens-Midtown Tunnel. Like many of New York City's major crosstown streets, it has its own bus routes and four subway stops serving the trains at Eighth Avenue, the trains at...
, and a temporary alignment took it back to Eleventh Avenue
Eleventh Avenue (Manhattan)
Eleventh Avenue is a north-south thoroughfare on the far West Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City, not far from the Hudson River. It carries downtown traffic only, south of West 44th Street, and two-way traffic north of it....
at 35th Street. The elevated line was built through the second or third floors of several buildings along the route. Others were served directly by elevated sidings. In 1937 the tracks along Eleventh Avenue were bypassed by a below-grade line, passing under the 35th Street intersection and running north just west of Tenth Avenue
Tenth Avenue (Manhattan)
Tenth Avenue, known as Amsterdam Avenue north of 59th Street, is a north-south thoroughfare on the West Side of Manhattan in New York City. It carries uptown traffic as far as West 110th Street, also known as Cathedral Parkway for the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine...
before slowly curving northwest, passing under Eleventh Avenue at 59th Street
59th Street (Manhattan)
59th Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan runs east-west, from York Avenue to the West Side Highway, with a discontinuity between Ninth Avenue/Columbus Avenue and Eighth Avenue/Central Park West for the Time Warner Center. Although it is bi-directional for most of its length, the...
and rejoining the original alignment.
Robert Moses West Side Improvement
builder and urban planner Robert Moses
Robert Moses
Robert Moses was the "master builder" of mid-20th century New York City, Long Island, Rockland County, and Westchester County, New York. As the shaper of a modern city, he is sometimes compared to Baron Haussmann of Second Empire Paris, and is one of the most polarizing figures in the history of...
covered the line within the Freedom Tunnel
Freedom Tunnel
The Freedom Tunnel is the name given to the Amtrak tunnel under Riverside Park in Manhattan, New York City. It got its name because the graffiti artist Chris "Freedom" Pape used the tunnel walls to create some of his most notable artwork...
from 72nd Street north to 120th Street. His project, called the West Side Improvement, was twice as expensive as the Hoover Dam
Hoover Dam
Hoover Dam, once known as Boulder Dam, is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border between the US states of Arizona and Nevada. It was constructed between 1931 and 1936 during the Great Depression and was dedicated on September 30, 1935, by President...
and created the Henry Hudson Parkway
Henry Hudson Parkway
The Henry Hudson Parkway is an long parkway in New York City. The southern terminus is at West 72nd Street in Manhattan, where the parkway continues south as the West Side Highway. It is often erroneously referred to as the West Side Highway throughout its entire course in Manhattan...
and an expansion of Riverside Park
Riverside Park (Manhattan)
Riverside Park is a scenic waterfront public park on the Upper West Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City, operated and maintained by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. The park consists of a narrow four-mile strip of land between the Hudson River and the gently...
.
North of the new alignment, the Henry Hudson Parkway and Riverside Park were built above the tracks from 72nd Street
72nd Street (Manhattan)
72nd Street is one of the major bi-directional crosstown streets in the New York City borough of Manhattan. Where the west end of 72nd Street curves into the south end of Riverside Drive, the memorial to Eleanor Roosevelt stands in Riverside Park. At this end of the street is the landmarked...
north to near 123rd Street. The large 72nd Street Yard served as the dividing point between the two-track realignment and a wider four-track line to the north. North of 123rd Street, the line becomes elevated between the Henry Hudson Parkway and Riverside Drive
Riverside Drive (Manhattan)
Riverside Drive is a scenic north-south thoroughfare in the Manhattan borough of New York City. The boulevard runs on the west side of Manhattan, generally parallel to the Hudson River from 72nd Street to near the George Washington Bridge at 181st Street...
before returning to the surface and crossing under the Parkway to its west side near 159th Street. It continues along the shore of 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...
to the Spuyten Duyvil Bridge
Spuyten Duyvil Bridge
The Spuyten Duyvil Bridge is a swing bridge that carries Amtrak's Empire Corridor line across the Spuyten Duyvil Creek between Manhattan and the Bronx, in New York City. The bridge is located at the northern tip of Manhattan where the Spuyten Duyvil Creek meets the Hudson River, approximately to...
, a swing bridge
Swing bridge
A swing bridge is a movable bridge that has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring, usually at or near to its centre of gravity, about which the turning span can then pivot horizontally as shown in the animated illustration to the right...
across the Harlem Ship Canal (Spuyten Duyvil Creek
Spuyten Duyvil Creek
Spuyten Duyvil Creek is a channel connecting the Hudson River to the Harlem River Ship Canal, and on to the Harlem River in New York City, separating the island of Manhattan from the Bronx and the rest of the mainland. The neighborhood named Spuyten Duyvil lies to the north of the creek.Spuyten...
), before merging with the Spuyten Duyvil and Port Morris Railroad just north of the bridge.
In addition to serving the industrial and dock areas of the Lower West Side, the line was the primary route for produce and meat into New York, serving warehouses in the West Village, Chelsea and the Meatpacking District, as well as serving the James Farley Post Office
James Farley Post Office
The James A. Farley Post Office Building is the main post office building in New York City. Its ZIP code designation is 10001. Built in 1912, the building is famous for bearing the inscription: Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of...
and private freight services.
Donald Trump and Riverside South
New York Central Railroad
The New York Central Railroad , known simply as the New York Central in its publicity, was a railroad operating in the Northeastern United States...
was merged into Penn Central in 1968 and Conrail in 1976. Conrail continued to operate freight along the West Side Line until the 1980s.
Donald Trump
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump, Sr. is an American business magnate, television personality and author. He is the chairman and president of The Trump Organization and the founder of Trump Entertainment Resorts. Trump's extravagant lifestyle, outspoken manner and role on the NBC reality show The Apprentice have...
optioned the 72nd Street Yard in 1974. Riverside South, the development project he ultimately began there, is the city's biggest private residential development. To obtain approval of his project, Trump agreed to build Riverside Park South on 23 acres (93,077.8 m²) of the yard and donate it to the city.
The line itself north of 31st Street was acquired by Amtrak. The southernmost part of the High Line (south of Bank St) had been removed in the 1960s; the structure from Bank St to Gansevoort St was removed some 20 years later. As of mid-2005, the rest of the High Line is owned by CSX, which acquired it after the 1999 breakup of Conrail.
Empire Connection
Empire Corridor
The Empire Corridor is a term used to refer to the approximately corridor between Niagara Falls and New York City, including the cities of Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Utica, Schenectady and Albany. The Empire Service and Maple Leaf serve the entire length of this corridor, and the Maple Leaf...
via Albany
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
from Upstate New York
Upstate New York
Upstate New York is the region of the U.S. state of New York that is located north of the core of the New York metropolitan area.-Definition:There is no clear or official boundary between Upstate New York and Downstate New York...
or beyond (including Chicago) into New York came into Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal —often incorrectly called Grand Central Station, or shortened to simply Grand Central—is a terminal station at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States...
. Penn Station was on the separate Northeast Corridor
Northeast Corridor
The Northeast Corridor is a fully electrified railway line owned primarily by Amtrak serving the Northeast megalopolis of the United States from Boston in the north, via New York to Washington, D.C. in the south, with branches serving other cities...
. (Penn Station could be reached from the Empire Corridor, but only via an impractical route from the Bronx
The Bronx
The Bronx is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City. It is also known as Bronx County, the last of the 62 counties of New York State to be incorporated...
that then backtracked several miles to the north to a Northeast Corridor line.) Passengers traveling beyond New York on the Northeast Corridor were forced to transfer between Grand Central Terminal and Penn Station via shuttle bus, taxicab
Taxicab
A taxicab, also taxi or cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice...
or subway
New York City Subway
The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the City of New York and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, a subsidiary agency of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and also known as MTA New York City Transit...
.
When the West Side Yard
West Side Yard
The West Side Yard is a rail yard owned by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority on the west side of Manhattan in New York City...
for 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...
was built on the west side of Manhattan in 1986, a tunnel was built under it connecting Penn Station to the West Side Line just west of Tenth Avenue
Tenth Avenue (Manhattan)
Tenth Avenue, known as Amsterdam Avenue north of 59th Street, is a north-south thoroughfare on the West Side of Manhattan in New York City. It carries uptown traffic as far as West 110th Street, also known as Cathedral Parkway for the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine...
, near the Javits Center. When additional funding later became available, one track along the northern part of the West Side Line was rebuilt for passenger service and termed the Empire Connection. A short section of track into Penn Station was electrified using third rail
Third rail
A third rail is a method of providing electric power to a railway train, through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the rails of a railway track. It is used typically in a mass transit or rapid transit system, which has alignments in its own corridors, fully or almost...
and with overhead catenary
Overhead lines
Overhead lines or overhead wires are used to transmit electrical energy to trams, trolleybuses or trains at a distance from the energy supply point...
, since 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 are not allowed to operate in the station tunnel. A wye
Wye (railroad)
A wye or triangular junction, in rail terminology, is a triangular shaped arrangement of rail tracks with a switch or set of points at each corner. In mainline railroads, this can be used at a rail junction, where three rail lines join, in order to allow trains to pass from any line to any other...
was constructed to allow diesels to turn around. The Empire Connection allows trains traveling the Empire Corridor to reach Penn Station. The Empire Connection was double tracked north of 39th St to the Harlem River bridge in the mid-1990s.
On April 7, 1991, all Amtrak
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...
Empire Service
Empire Service (Amtrak)
The Empire Service is a train service operated by Amtrak within the state of New York in the United States. Trains on the line provide frequent daily service along the 460-mile Empire Corridor between New York City and Niagara Falls, New York...
trains started using the new Empire Connection into Penn Station. Beside being more convenient for passengers, this saved Amtrak the expense of operating two stations in New York City.
Metro-North Railroad
Metro-North Railroad
The Metro-North Commuter Railroad , trading as MTA Metro-North Railroad, or, more commonly, Metro-North, is a suburban commuter rail service that is run and managed by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority , an authority of New York State. It is the busiest commuter railroad in the United...
is studying ways it could also serve Penn Station. One alternative under study would run some Hudson Line commuter trains into Penn Station via the Empire Connection, possibly with new station stops at West 125th and West 62nd Streets.
High Line
The High Line has been turned into an elevated park which opened in June 2009. The first phase of the park runs from Gansevoort Street to 20th Street. The tracks parallel Washington Street for much of their journey. In June 2011 a second phase of the elevated park opened from 20th Street to 30th Street.External links
- New York Central's 1934 West Side Improvement (1934 pamphlet)
- Abandoned Stations - Bronx Railroad Stations (includes the West Side Line in Manhattan)
- Metro-North Penn Station access study