Staten Island Railway (SIRT) North Shore Restoration

[XBNSFer]

Gonna hijack me a thread here and repurpose it. I was searching DMU's for an LIRR topic, and came across this:

http://web.mta.info/mta/planning/nsaa/p ... Report.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[snip]

"Exclusive, fixed rail guideway" is a stupid idea, like every other stupid "exclusive" rail line that has been constructed in the NYC/Northern NJ metro area. Every one of those "trains to the planes" and such should have been constructed as extensions of existing systems using the same equipment and requiring no additional "transfers" and waiting times be introduced. But then why make it convenient or inexpensive to use? Then it might actually BE used by a lot more people - wouldn't want THAT, now would we?!

[ajp]

wasn’t there a piece of the ROW that was tsken over by a restaurant who laid down a piece of track and had displayed an original SIRT car

[XBNSFer]

Not exactly; there is a restaurant along Richmnd Terrace that has the old ROW right behind it (was R.H. Tuggs back in the day when I remember it; I might have even eaten there once). They "fixed up" a small stretch of the track behind the restaurant, as I understand it, so it wasn't such an eyesore as the rest of it. But no car was on display.

[Jeff Smith]

Not looking good for rail: https://www.thecity.nyc/transportation/ ... rk-airport

Looks like they're going with an BRT option, but are not precluding Light Rail.

...

The potential route from Tottenville to Newark Liberty International Airport is among a pair preliminarily picked by the agency as part of its West Shore transit alternatives analysis.

A second bus rapid transit line option could someday connect the Staten Island Railway’s Arthur Kill station to the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail in Bayonne.
...
The MTA says the Tottenville-Newark route could connect to the North Shore’s proposed bus rapid transit route, which aims to take advantage of five miles of dedicated roadway along old railroad lines to get commuters to the St. George Ferry Terminal faster.
...
The project currently lacks funding for its environmental impact study, a critical step.
...

[Jeff Smith]

A study is also linked: https://new.mta.info/system_modernization/si_west_shore

and: https://new.mta.info/system_modernization/northshorebrt

ICK.

[oknazevad]

Gonna hijack me a thread here and repurpose it. I was searching DMU's for an LIRR topic, and came across this:

http://web.mta.info/mta/planning/nsaa/p ... Report.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[snip]

"Exclusive, fixed rail guideway" is a stupid idea, like every other stupid "exclusive" rail line that has been constructed in the NYC/Northern NJ metro area. Every one of those "trains to the planes" and such should have been constructed as extensions of existing systems using the same equipment and requiring no additional "transfers" and waiting times be introduced. But then why make it convenient or inexpensive to use? Then it might actually BE used by a lot more people - wouldn't want THAT, now would we?!

When saying "exclusive" here, they're referring to it not being in mixed traffic, not that it is a separate system.

Though as Jeff noted, they look to be doing the cheap bus routine here.

[XBNSFer]

The "Bus Rapid Transit" is not only an oxymoron (as in, nothing "rapid" about buses) but will be a colossal waste of money.

Any attempt to "limit" the number of "bus stops" will be met by howling from the people who live on streets not chosen for BRT "bus stops" until the "BRT" devolves into another "stops at every street" bus that takes more than twice as long as rail service would take.

Further, a "BRT" road with little traffic on it would then be the cause for more howling until it gets opened up to "carpools" and before you know it will eventually become just another limited access parking lot - but will very effectively allow NYC to say they have done some great thing for Staten Island while in truth they will have actually done another tremendous disservice of providing yet another obstacle to restoring commuter rail service to the north shore of Staten Island.

[Jeff Smith]

Some North Shore news: SILive.com

Since the City and State appear to be taking the LRT bull by the horns with respect to the Interborough Express IBX, why not do that here?

‘Take care of your own housekeeping’; community wants NYC to clean up long-dormant Staten Island property

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Remnants of a former North Shore commuter rail line that closed in the 1950s has again become a problem for Staten Island residents, the Advance/SILive.com has learned.

The Port Richmond North Shore Alliance, a civic organization focused on the neighborhood where the elevated tracks of the old North Shore Branch run through, sent an email Jan. 6 outlining challenges local residents have been having with the area’s upkeep

In the email, the civic organization said multiple trees have fallen from the old train line near Nicholas Avenue, and included video of a tree along the tracks crashing into a Riverside Lane resident’s backyard damaging property on Nov. 22.
...
The North Shore Branch, which at its peak ran from the St. George Ferry Terminal to Port Ivory, shuttered in 1953 along with the South Beach Branch of what was then called Staten Island Rapid Transit.
...
A separate study looking at possible projects across the MTA’s portfolio set the estimated 2027 construction cost of the North Shore bus rapid transit system at $1.3 billion, and laid out plans to connect the project to a pair of other bus rapid transit projects, one of which would connect to Bayonne’s Light Rail system.
...