Bay Ridge Branch

Bay Ridge Branch
Looking west from 14th Avenue in Borough Park, Brooklyn
Overview
Status	Active
Owner	Long Island Rail Road
Locale	Brooklyn and Queens, New York City
Termini	65th Street Yard Fresh Pond Junction
Stations	17 (all former)
Service
Type	Freight
System	Long Island Rail Road
Operator(s)	New York and Atlantic Railway
History
Opened	1876 (1876)[1]
Completed	1883 (1883)[2]
Passenger service ended	1924 (1924)[3]
Electrification installed	1927 (1927)[4]
Electrification removed	1968 (1968)
Technical
Number of tracks	1–4
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Route map NYCR Fremont Secondary to Hell Gate Bridge Middle Village–Metropolitan Avenue Lower Montauk Branch Fresh Pond Junction Myrtle Avenue Line Myrtle Avenue Cypress Avenue Canarsie Line Evergreen Branch Cooper Avenue Junction Brooklyn/Queens line Wilson Avenue East New York Tunnels Bushwick Avenue–Aberdeen Street ​ Jamaica Line Broadway Junction ​ Fulton Street Line Atlantic Branch (East New York) Atlantic Avenue Sutter Avenue Livonia Avenue New Lots Line New Lots Avenue NY 27 Linden Boulevard Canarsie Line Linden Shops Rugby Kouwenhoven Vanderveer Park Kings County Central Junction Ocean Avenue ​ Brighton Line ( Manhattan Beach Junction ) Ocean Parkway ​ Culver Line (Parkville) Sea Beach Line West End Line (62nd / New Utrecht) Fort Hamilton Parkway Eighth Avenue ​​ Fourth Avenue Line I-278 Gowanus Expressway Third Avenue South Brooklyn Marine Terminal Bay Ridge 65th Street Yard NYNJ car floats across Hudson River Greenville Yard This diagram: view talk edit

The Bay Ridge Branch is a rail line owned by the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) and operated by the New York and Atlantic Railway in New York City. It is the longest freight-only line of the LIRR, connecting the Montauk Branch and CSX Transportation's Fremont Secondary (to the Hell Gate Bridge) at Glendale, Queens with the Upper New York Bay at Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.

Car float service provided by New York New Jersey Rail operates between Greenville Yard at Greenville, Jersey City and the 65th Street Yard at the Bay Ridge end of the line.^[5]

The first part of the line was opened by the New York, Bay Ridge and Jamaica Railroad in 1876, from Bay Ridge to the crossing of the Brooklyn, Bath and Coney Island Railroad near New Utrecht.^[1]

An extension from New Utrecht east and northeast to New Lots opened in 1877, and at the same time the New York and Manhattan Beach Railway opened the line from New Lots north to East New York.^[6] An extension north from East New York to Cooper Avenue (and then northwest to Greenpoint, later the Evergreen Branch) opened in 1878,^[7] and the Long Island City and Manhattan Beach Railroad (incorporated February 24, 1883, merged with the New York and Manhattan Beach and New York, Bay Ridge and Jamaica into the New York, Brooklyn and Manhattan Beach Railway August 27, 1885) built from Cooper Avenue north to the Montauk Branch at Glendale in 1883.^[2]

Passenger service on the line ended in 1924.^[3] The entire line was electrified, starting on July 8, 1927, for New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad freight trains coming off the New York Connecting Railroad (Hell Gate Bridge).^[4] Electric operation ended on December 31, 1968.^[8]

On June 4, 1999, Mayor Rudy Giuliani announced that New York City reached an agreement to open and operate the 65th Street Yard with the New York and Atlantic Railway, which would use it as an intermodal facility to expand its customer base. The takeover of Conrail by Norfolk Southern Railway and CSX Transportation was expected to significantly increase rail freight movement into New York City. The yard was completely renovated by the New York City Economic Development Corporation. The NYCEDC also began work on a two-year Cross Harbor Freight Movement Study to evaluate options for a freight tunnel.^[9]

Triple track sharing an open cut with BMT Sea Beach Line (left)

Crossing Ralph Avenue

A proposed Cross-Harbor Rail Tunnel from New Jersey to Brooklyn would use the Bay Ridge Branch to reach the rest of Long Island, with the line upgraded to double-stack clearances. The state is conducting an environmental review of the project.^[10]

Another proposal would have the New York City Subway use the tracks to link Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx via the Hell Gate Bridge.^[11] In 1996 the Regional Plan Association conducted a study to determine the feasibility of the rail link.^[12] Based on Paris's RER commuter rail system, the Triboro RX proposal would create a loop around the city. It was first proposed by the Regional Plan Association in 1996. The proposed line, discussion of which was revived in 2012, would connect to all non-shuttle subway services.^[13] Obstacles for the proposal include the proposed Cross-Harbor Rail Tunnel, the lack of electrification on the line, and the single-tracking in some parts of the line. Additionally, there is debate on where the line's northern terminus would be: some, including MoveNY,^[14] call for it to end at Hunts Point,^[11] while others suggest it end at Yankee Stadium.^[13]

In mid-October 2019, the MTA announced that it would study the feasibility of restoring passenger service on the Bay Ridge Branch between Bay Ridge and Astoria, a portion of the proposed Triboro RX route.^[15] On January 23, 2020, the MTA Board awarded a $1.3 million contract to study the feasibility of restoring passenger service to this section to AECOM.^[16] In November 2021, Acting MTA Chairman and CEO Janno Lieber said that money from Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act could be used to fund the completion of the Bay Ridge Branch project.^[17]

In early January 2022, as part of her State of the State address, New York governor Kathy Hochul announced that the state would move forward with the Bay Ridge Branch Line by conducting an environmental study on the Interborough Express, a 14-mile (23 km) corridor using the existing Bay Ridge Branch from Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, to Jackson Heights, Queens.^[18] The study would consider whether the line should be heavy rail (rapid transit or regional rail), light rail, or bus rapid transit.^[19][20] End-to-end travel times are expected to be 40 minutes, and weekday ridership is initially projected to be 74,000 to 88,000. The route would connect up to 17 subway lines and the Long Island Rail Road. A feasibility study was also completed on January 20, 2022.^[21][22][23] Governor Hochul also announced that she had directed the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to complete an environmental review for the Cross-Harbor Rail Tunnel for freight.^[24] Hochul announced in her January 2023 address that the project would proceed as a light rail corridor.^[25] Reasons for the light rail choice include faster service, easier construction—mostly fitting in existing right of way with a short on street segment, availability of off-the-shelf rolling stock and a lower overall cost, estimated at $5.5 billion, or about $48,000 per expected daily rider. The proposed headway is 5 minutes during peak hours and 10 minutes at other times. Freight use would continue, requiring separated tracks.^[10]

The following passenger stations once existed on the line:^[26]

• Manhattan Beach Branch
• Rail freight transportation in New York City and Long Island

• Media related to Bay Ridge Branch (Long Island Rail Road) at Wikimedia Commons
• A visual tour of the line
• Additional images and commentary
• History of the proposals for conversion to mass transit
• Study and proposal for integration within NYC subway system Archived June 2, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
• Proposal for cross harbor freight tunnel
• Brooklyn / Queens Interborough Express - Proposal Announcement (January 2022)