SIRT to NY Penn Station

[andre]

As we all know, the arthur kill lift bridge is used to connect staten island to nj at cranford jct.

(Lets say for the sake of the conversation the northshore branch is restored totally from ST George to Arlington for passenger service)

Now building upon that topic the possibility of running through trains from staten island over the ak lift bridge to nj, then traveling up the NEC into Newark Penn and New York Penn. It would be a great pt step forward for staten island (eliminating the dependence upon the ferry and express bus service which is spotty)
Im thinking equipment wise it would have to be something similar to MNCR's NH Line equipment being equipped with Pantographs and 3rd rail shoes.

Most riders from staten island do commute to midtown and many points beyond.

Lets explore the possibilities of running such a service since the trackage and equipment does exist.


(B&O did run a few through specials in the past from staten island to DC)

[Kamen Rider]

trackage and equipment DOES NOT exist. The problem is that this connection is complicated and indirect. A train would have to go up and around the east side of Newark airport, through the CSAO yards, onto the NEC going southbound, reverse and then head for NYP. This entire area would also have to be powered, and the trains would need to compet with CSX/NS/CSAO trains to and from Port Newark/Port Elizabeth, the Fresh Kills garbage transfer station and Howland Hook Marine terminal for access to the single tracked AK lift. The other ROW from the split on the NJ side croses under the NEC at Elizabeth station at a Northeast-Southwest angle. This row is also fully inactive, thanks to the Adline and hunter connections.

the B&O specials were for VIPs like Winston Churchill in 1943 and Queen Elizabeth and her husband, Prince Philip, in 1957.

The Ferry is free and a bus or SIRT ride to the ferry gets you onto the subway at the other end with your transfer.

[andre]

problem with the bus to ferry to subway is that from lets say tottenville the average bus ride is nearly 2hours, sirt is about 45 mins then the 30min boat ride if the connection is made then the ride uptown another 15mins,

if you take the express bus to the city its about 2hours also.

(goal is to have a one seat ride under 90 mins)

[Kamen Rider]

If you're taking the local bus from Tottenville everday, you have a problem, known as stupidity. Where is it written that anyone it entitled a one seat ride anywhere? I don't have a one seat commute, do you see me up in arms about how there is no direct route from my section of Queens to the Upper West Side? Heck, I didn't even have a one seat ride north of 14th street on the subway until last june.

[andre]

well the one seat ride is for the sake of the conversation, to explore the concept of "can it be done" with the existing scenario given.
and yes there are some people who ride the bus from tottenville to st george (dont know why but they do)

also for equipment, possibly a dualmode train like a genesis or DM30 with a string of coaches

[Kamen Rider]

it's not possible, or else someone, a heck of a lot smarter than ether of us, would have though about that a LONG time ago. the route was desgigned to tie into the CNJ/Redding West Trenton line to Philadelphia, not swing around to manhattan. It would be cheaper to run a bus over the Outerbridge to Perth Amboy station.

[railfan365]

As long as "what ifs" are being addressed, one that would be a lot more achievable tahn having trains go from SI to Manhattan by way of New Jersey would be to reconnect the Tottenville Line to the North Shore Line to expedite the commute for more Staten Islanders. I know from entries in other threads that that is unlikely at this time - but I still think that it would be worthwhile to explore getting the real estate with which to recreate the right -of-way for such a thing.

[topcopdoc]

SIRT to Manhattan

I use to live near Tottenville 50 years ago and commute to lower Manhattan. It took me 2-½ hrs then because at my arrival at Saint George Terminal I could see the ferry had left five minutes before. The same thing happened at South Ferry where I missed the subway by five minutes.

On a rare occasion the ferry boat and subway were off schedule and my commute was only 1 ½ hrs. If New York could not fix the schedule in 50 years I don’t believe a new rail line would improve it.

Doc

[Otto Vondrak]

Let's try to back away from the "what-if's" and fantasy routes for SIRT. The never-built cross-harbor tunnel to Brooklyn BMT is fantasy enough.