Historic Rail Line, Part of the Triboro RX Plan, Considered for Passenger Rail

A rail corridor that carried passengers from 1876 until 1924, and only freight since, could handle passenger traffic again through a plan under consideration by the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

1 minute read

October 18, 2019, 7:00 AM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


New York City Rail Line

An abandoned station on the Bay Ridge Branch, viewed from Atlantic Avenue station in December 2017. | Pi.1415926535 / Wikimedia Commons

"The MTA says it will begin studying a plan to bring passenger trains back to the Bay Ridge Branch, a stretch of Long Island Railroad-owned, above-ground tracks between Bay Ridge and Queens that’s been moving only freight for the past 95 years," reports Alex Williamson.

"The branch runs from Fresh Pond Yards in Ridgewood, through East New York, Flatbush, Midwood and Bensonhurst, then ends in Bay Ridge," adds Williamson.

The Bay Ridge Branch is a key component of the Triboro RX plan first proposed by the Regional Plan Association in 1996. "The Triboro would loop around the city through a patchwork of existing rail, which passenger trains would share with freight trains," explains Williamson.

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