| New York Tunnel Extension | |||
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Pennsylvania Railroad Tunnel under the Hudson River, New York City |
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| Overview | |||
| Type | Heavy rail, Commuter rail | ||
| System | Originally Pennsylvania Railroad now Amtrak, New Jersey Transit, Long Island Railroad. |
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| Status | In operation | ||
| Locale | New York City Hudson County, New Jersey |
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| Operation | |||
| Opened | 1910 | ||
| Owner | Amtrak | ||
| Technical | |||
| Line length | 44 miles (71 km) (total main line trackage) | ||
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) Standard gauge | ||
| Electrification | 650 V DC third rail (1910-1933). 11,000 V AC overhead lines (1933-present) | ||
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The New York Tunnel Extension (also New York Improvement and Tunnel Extension), was a major project of the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) at the beginning of the 20th century, to improve railroad access throughout the greater New York City area. The project comprised tunnels and approaches from New Jersey and Long Island to Midtown Manhattan, leading to the PRR's massive new station, New York Penn Station.[1][2]
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The PRR had consolidated its control of railroads in New Jersey with the lease of United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company in 1871, thereby extending its rail network from Philadelphia northward to Jersey City. Crossing the Hudson River, however, remained a major obstacle. To the east, the Long Island Railroad (LIRR) ended at the East River. In both situations, passengers had to transfer to ferries to Manhattan. This put the PRR at a disadvantage relative to its arch competitor, the New York Central Railroad, which already served Manhattan.[3]
Various plans to cross the Hudson were discussed as early as the 1870s, and both tunnel and bridge projects were considered by the railroads and government officials. A tunnel project for the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad, a rapid transit line, began in 1874, and encountered serious engineering, financial and legal obstacles. The project was halted in 1880 after a blowout accident that cost 20 lives.[4] Work on the Uptown Hudson Tubes continued intermittently but was not completed until 1908. The technology of tunnel-building was still primitive and risky in the 1880s, and this gave impetus to a major bridge design proposal. The bridge would be situated between Hoboken, New Jersey and 23rd Street in Manhattan. However, due to the congested shipping conditions in New York Harbor, the design called for an enormous bridge span that would have been twice that of the Brooklyn Bridge. Although Congress granted a charter in 1890 for construction of a bridge, the large project cost would have to be shared by several railroads.[5] Some foundation masonry was laid on the Hoboken side in 1895, but the PRR was unsuccessful in getting other companies to share in the expenses, and the bridge project was abandoned.[5][6]
The PRR, working with the LIRR, developed several new proposals for improved regional rail access in 1892. They included construction of new tunnels between Jersey City and Manhattan, and possibly a tunnel to Brooklyn; new terminals in mid-town Manhattan for both the PRR and LIRR, completion of the Hudson Tubes, and a bridge proposal. These ideas were discussed extensively for several years but did not come to fruition until the turn of the century. In 1901 the PRR took great interest in a new railroad approach just completed in Paris, France, whereby electric locomotives were substituted for steam locomotives prior to the final approach to the city. This technique enhanced the prospects for building a tunnel under the Hudson. Additionally, the PRR made plans to acquire majority control of the LIRR, so that one new terminal could be built in Manhattan, rather than two.[5]
The PRR created subsidiaries to manage the project. The Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York Railroad and the Pennsylvania, New York and Long Island Railroad, were the New Jersey and New York parts, respectively. The PNJ&NY was incorporated February 13, 1902, and the PNY&LI was incorporated April 21, 1902. They were consolidated into the Pennsylvania Tunnel and Terminal Railroad (PT&T) on June 26, 1907.[5]
The design and construction aspects of the project were organized into three principal divisions.
The North River Tunnels carried PRR trains under the Hudson; for some years PRR electric engines also pulled Lehigh Valley Railroad or Baltimore and Ohio Railroad trains to New York. The East River Tunnels carried LIRR and (after 1917) New Haven trains, along with PRR trains to the Sunnyside Yard in Queens. All trains were powered by DC third rail until the 1930s, the same third rail system that still powers LIRR trains. In New Jersey the third rail ended at Manhattan Transfer, where all trains stopped to change between steam and electric engines.
Until 1961 some PRR suburban trains continued to serve the Exchange Place station, where passengers could board the PRR ferry or the Hudson Tube system (later called Port Authority Trans-Hudson or PATH) to downtown Manhattan. The PRR ended ferry service in 1949.
One branch existed, the freight-only Harrison Branch, splitting off the line just east of its west end and running west to a connection with the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad's Harrison Cut-off and the Erie Railroad's Paterson and Newark Branch.
The following non-PRR railroads used the line:
The PRR merged into Penn Central Transportation in 1968, and all the property of the PT&T was conveyed to Amtrak on April 1, 1976 when Conrail's system was formed. It is now part of Amtrak's Northeast Corridor; New Jersey Transit and the Long Island Rail Road use their respective halves to reach New York Penn Station.
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