Staten Island Railway

The Staten Island Railway (SIR)<ref name="sirschedule">Template:NYCS const</ref> is a rapid transit line in the New York City borough of Staten Island. It is owned by the Staten Island Rapid Transit Operating Authority (SIRTOA), a subsidiary of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and operated by the New York City Transit Authority Department of Subways. SIR's only line operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, providing local service between St. George and Tottenville, along the east side of Staten Island. There is no direct rail link between the SIR and the New York City Subway system, but SIR riders do receive a free transfer to New York City Transit bus and subway lines and the line is included on official New York City Subway maps.<ref>Template:NYCS const</ref> Commuters on the railway typically use the Staten Island Ferry to reach Manhattan. The line is accessible from within the Ferry Terminal, and most of its trains are timed to connect with the ferry. In Template:American transit ridership, the system had a ridership of Template:American transit ridership, or about Template:American transit ridership per weekday as of Template:American transit ridership.

The railroad was incorporated in 1851 and was completed to Tottenville on June 2, 1860, as the Staten Island Rail Road. It was reorganized into the Staten Island Railway Company in 1873. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it was operated successively by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and then the Pennsylvania Railroad. Under these companies' control, the SIR formerly operated two other branches for passenger trains: the North Shore Branch from 1886 to 1953 and the South Beach Branch from 1888 to 1953. Operation of the Tottenville line was turned over to SIRTOA in 1971, and the line was purchased by the city of New York. The MTA rebranded the Staten Island Rapid Transit as the MTA Staten Island Railway in 1994.

The line has a route bullet similar to subway routes: the letters SIR in a blue circle. The line is one of the few 24/7 mass-transit rail systems in the United States.Template:Efn Although the railway was originally considered a standard rail line, the existing line is severed from the national rail system, and only a small portion of the former North Shore Branch still sees freight use. The passenger operations are regulated as a rapid transit system and exempt from some regulations.<ref name="noptc">Template:Cite web</ref> The line uses R211S subway cars.<ref name="R211prodpress">Template:Citation</ref>

History

19th century

1885 Staten Island Rapid Transit Company map

The Staten Island Rail Road was incorporated on August 2, 1851, after Perth Amboy and Staten Island residents petitioned for a Tottenville-to-Stapleton rail line. The railroad was financed with a loan from Cornelius Vanderbilt, the sole Staten Island-to-Manhattan ferry operator on the East Shore, his first involvement in a railroad.<ref name="EssentialHistory2">Template:Cite book</ref> The line was completed to Tottenville on June 2, 1860.<ref name="SIRT">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp<ref name="StatenIslandRapidTransit">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp Under the leadership of Vanderbilt's brother, Jacob H. Vanderbilt, the Staten Island Rail Road took over several independent ferries.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Staten Island Railway and ferry line made a modest profit until the explosion of the ferry Westfield at Whitehall Street Terminal on July 30, 1871.<ref name="SIRT" />Template:Rp<ref name="RoyalBlueLine">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp By July 1872, the railroad and ferry were in receivership. On September 17, 1872, the company was sold to George Law in foreclosure.<ref name="EssentialHistory2" /><ref name="StatenIslandRapidTransit" />Template:Rp<ref name="SIRTHistory">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp The following April 1, the Staten Island Rail Road was transferred to the Staten Island Railway Company.<ref name="PSC1913">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp

By 1880 the railway was barely operational, and New York State sued (through Attorney General Hamilton Ward) to dissolve the company in May of that year.<ref name="StatenIslandRapidTransit" />Template:Rp<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Erastus Wiman, one of the island's most prominent residents, organized the Staten Island Rapid Transit Company (SIRT) on March 25, 1880, and partnered with the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (B&O) to build a large rail terminal on the island and centralize the six-to-eight ferry landings.<ref name="SIRT" />Template:Rp<ref name="StatenIslandRapidTransit" />Template:Rp<ref name="RoyalBlueLine" />Template:Rp He secured an extension on a land-purchase option from George Law by offering to name it "St. George" after him.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp

1885 drawing of the Baltimore & Ohio viaduct (under construction) over Arthur Kill, between Staten Island and New Jersey

Construction of the Vanderbilt's Landing-to-Tompkinsville portion of the North Shore Branch began on March 17, 1884,<ref name="StatenIslandRapidTransit" />Template:Rp<ref name="RoyalBlueLine" />Template:Rp<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and the line opened for passenger service on August 1 of that year.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The lighthouse just above Tompkinsville impeded the line's extension to St. George but, after the SIRT lobbied for an act of Congress, construction of a two-track, Template:Convert tunnel under the lighthouse began in 1885 for about $190,000.<ref name="SIRTHistory2">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp The SIR was leased to the B&O for 99 years in 1885.<ref name="SIRT" />Template:Rp<ref name="StatenIslandRapidTransit" />Template:Rp<ref name="RoyalBlueLine" />Template:Rp Proceeds of the lease were used to complete the terminal at Saint George, pay for two miles of waterfront property, complete the Rapid Transit Railroad, build a bridge over the Kill Van Kull at Elizabethport, and build other terminal facilities.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The North Shore Branch opened for service on February 23, 1886, to Elm Park.<ref name="SIRTHistory2" />Template:Rp The Saint George terminal opened on March 7, 1886, and all SIR lines were extended to the station.<ref name="StatenIslandRapidTransit" />Template:Rp<ref name="RoyalBlueLine" />Template:Rp The remainder of the North Shore Branch, to its terminus at Erastina, was opened in the summer of 1886.<ref name="SIRT" /> On January 1, 1888, the South Beach Branch opened for passenger service to Arrochar.<ref name="New York State Board of Railroad Commissioners 1889">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp<ref name="The New York Times 1888">Template:Cite news</ref> In 1893, the South Beach Branch was extended from Arrochar to a new terminal at South Beach.<ref name="American Bank Note Company 1895">Template:Cite book</ref> The new lines opened by the B&O were known as the Staten Island Rapid Transit Railway, and the original line (from Clifton to Tottenville) was called the Staten Island Railway.<ref name="Moody">Template:Cite book</ref>

In 1886, Congress passed a law authorizing the construction of a Template:Convert swing bridge over Arthur Kill, after three years of effort by Wiman.<ref name="RoyalBlueLine" /><ref name="ArthurKillBridge">Template:Cite news</ref> The bridge was completed three days early, on June 13, 1888, at 3 p.m.<ref name="EssentialHistory2" /><ref name="SIRTHistory" /><ref name="South Beach Branch2">Template:Cite news</ref> The Arthur Kill Bridge was the world's largest drawbridge when it opened, and there were no fatalities in its construction.<ref name="ArthurKillBridge" /> In 1889, construction began on the Baltimore and New York Railway— Template:Convert line from Arthur Kill to the Jersey Central at Cranford, and was finished later in the year. On January 1, 1890, the first train operated from St. George Terminal to Cranford Junction.<ref name="SIRT" />Template:Rp<ref name="SINJ">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="ArthurKillBridge2">Template:Cite news</ref> When the Arthur Kill Bridge was completed, the United States War Department was unsuccessfully pressured by the Lehigh Valley and Pennsylvania Railroads to have the newly built bridge replaced with a bridge with a different design; according to the railroads, it was an obstruction to navigation of the large numbers of coal barges past Holland Hook on Arthur Kill.<ref name="RoyalBlueLine" /> In 1897, the terminal at Saint George (which served the railroad and the ferry to Manhattan) was completed.<ref name="StatenIslandRapidTransit" />

20th century

Improvements were made to the SIRT after the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) took control of the B&O in 1900,<ref name="B&O2">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp after which the B&O became profitable again.<ref name="CNJ">Template:Cite web</ref>Template:Better source needed On October 25, 1905, New York City took ownership of the ferry and terminals and evicted the B&O from the Whitehall Street terminal. The St. George Terminal was then built by the city for $2,318,720, Template:Inflation.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

In anticipation of a tunnel under the Narrows to Brooklyn and a connection there with the BMT Fourth Avenue Line of the New York City Subway, the SIRT electrified its lines with third rail power distribution and cars similar to those of the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT).<ref name="Electrification">Template:Cite news</ref> The first electric train was operated on the South Beach Branch between South Beach and Fort Wadsworth on May 30, 1925, and the other branches were electrified by November of that year.<ref name="Electrification" /><ref name="ElectrificationSI">Template:Cite news</ref> Electrification did not greatly increase traffic, and the tunnel was never built.<ref name="nyt-1895-10-23">Template:Cite news</ref> During the 1920s, a branch line along Staten Island's West Shore was built to haul building materials for the Outerbridge Crossing.<ref name="SIRT" />Template:Rp The branch was cut back to a point south of the crossing after the bridge was built. The Gulf Oil Corporation opened a dock and tank farm along Arthur Kill in 1928; to serve it, the Travis Branch was built south from Arlington Yard into the marshes of the island's western shore to Gulfport in the early 1930s.<ref name="SIRT" />Template:Rp<ref name="Clarion-Ledger 1930">Template:Cite news</ref>

The Port Richmond–Tower Hill viaduct, the nation's largest grade-crossing-elimination project, was completed on February 25, 1937. The viaduct, more than a mile long, spanned eight grade crossings on the SIRT's North Shore Branch and was the final part of a $6 million grade-crossing-elimination project on the island which eliminated thirty-four crossings on its north and south shores.<ref name="Viaduct">Template:Cite news</ref>

Template:Rail freightFreight and World War II traffic helped pay some of the SIRT's accumulated debt, and the line was briefly profitable in the 1940s. All East Coast military-hospital trains were handled by the SIRT during the war, and some trains stopped at Staten Island's Arlington station to transfer wounded soldiers to a large military hospital. The need to transport war materiel, POW trains and troops made the stretch of the Baltimore & New York Railway between Cranford Junction and Arthur Kill extremely busy.<ref name="CNJ" /> The B&O also operated special trains for important officials, such as Winston Churchill.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> On June 25, 1946, a fire destroyed the St. George Terminal; three people were killed, twenty-two were injured and damage totaled $22 million.<ref name="StatenIslandRapidTransit" />Template:Rp<ref name="RoyalBlueLine" /> The fire destroyed the ferry terminal, the four slips used for service to Manhattan and the SIRT terminal.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Normal service was not restored until July 13, 1946, and a request for bids to build a temporary terminal was issued on August 21 of that year. On February 10, 1948, a replacement terminal was promised by Mayor William O'Dwyer. The new $23 million terminal opened on June 8, 1951, with ferry, bus and rail service in one building; portions of the new terminal were phased into service earlier.<ref name="StatenIslandRapidTransit" />Template:Rp<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

1952 Staten Island Rapid Transit map, with freight connections

Poster publicizing a March 1953 meeting protesting SIRT cuts

Ridership decreased from 12.3 million in 1947 to 4.4 million in 1949 as passengers switched from the rail line to city-operated buses due to a bus-fare reduction.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> In September 1948, about half of weekday trains were cut, night trains after 1:29 a.m. were cancelled, and thirty percent of the company's employees were laid off.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> After backlash, service was slightly increased.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On September 22, the Interstate Commerce Commission allowed the SIRT to abandon the ferry it had operated for 88 years between Tottenville and Perth Amboy, New Jersey, and the ferry operation was transferred to Sunrise Ferries of Elizabeth, New Jersey on October 16.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> SIRT discontinued passenger service on the North Shore Branch and the South Beach Branch at midnight on March 31, 1953, due to competition from city-operated buses; the South Beach Branch was abandoned shortly afterwards, and the North Shore Branch continued to carry freight.<ref name="drury">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="1953Closure2" /> On September 7, 1954, SIRT applied to discontinue passenger service on the Tottenville Branch on October 7 of that year;<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> a large city subsidy allowed passenger service on the branch to continue.<ref name="EssentialHistory2" />

In 1956, work began on the replacement of the Arthur Kill swing bridge by a single-track, Template:Convert vertical-lift bridge, which opened in August 1959.<ref name="RoyalBlueLine" />Template:Rp<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The prefabricated, 2,000-ton bridge was floated into place.<ref name="SIRT" />Template:Rp The new bridge could rise Template:Convert and, since it aided navigation on Arthur Kill, the federal government assumed 90% of the project's $11 million cost. Freight trains started crossing the bridge when it opened on August 25, 1959.<ref name="B&O2" />Template:Rp The Travis Branch was extended in 1958 to a new Consolidated Edison power plant in Travis (on the West Shore), allowing coal trains from West Virginia to serve the plant.<ref name="SIRT" />Template:Rp

Operation of the Tottenville line was turned over to the Staten Island Rapid Transit Operating Authority (a division of the state's Metropolitan Transportation Authority) on July 1, 1971, and the line was purchased by the city of New York.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> As part of the agreement, freight on the line would continue to be handled by the B&O under the Staten Island Railroad.<ref name="SIRT" />Template:Rp The first six R44 cars (the same as the newest cars then in use on the subway lines in the other boroughs) were put into SIRT service on February 28, 1973, replacing the ME-1 cars which had been in service since 1925.<ref name="R44">Template:Cite news</ref> Between 1971 and 1973, a project began to extend the high-level platforms at six stations.<ref name="tenyearprogram">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp A station-rebuilding program began in 1985, and the line's R44s were overhauled starting in 1987.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

An R44 at Grant City heading to St. George in July 1973

The B&O became part of the larger Chessie System in a merger with the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O), and the island's freight operation was renamed the Staten Island Railroad Corporation in 1971.<ref name="RoyalBlueLine" />Template:Rp The B&O and C&O became isolated from their other properties in New Jersey and Staten Island with the creation of Conrail on April 1, 1976, in a merger of bankrupt lines in the northeastern U.S. Their freight service now terminated in Philadelphia, but for several years afterward B&O locomotives and one B&O freight train a day ran to Cranford Junction.<ref name="RoyalBlueLine" />Template:Rp<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In 1973, the Jersey Central's car float yard was closed;<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> however, the B&O's car-float operation was later brought back to Staten Island at Saint George Yard, after having ended in September 1976. This car-float operation was taken over by the New York Dock Railway in September 1979, and ended the following year.<ref name="RoyalBlueLine" />Template:Rp

Only a few isolated industries on Staten Island continued to use rail services, and the yard at Saint George was essentially abandoned.<ref name="SIRT" />Template:Rp In April 1985, as a result of a decline in freight traffic, the Chessie System sold the Staten Island Railway to the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway (NYS&W), a Delaware Otsego (DO) subsidiary, for $1.5 million via a promissory note payable for over ten years.<ref name="Hartley 1988">Template:Cite magazine</ref> The NYS&W subsequently retained the Staten Island's freight operations, which served only ten customers by that time, and they had hopes of attracting more to boost profitability on the line.<ref name="Hartley 1988" /> In 1989, the NYS&W embargoed the trackage east of Elm Park on the North Shore Branch, ending all freight service to Saint George.

Procter & Gamble, the line's primary customer, closed in 1990, resulting in a further decline in freight traffic. On July 25, 1991, the Arthur Kill Bridge was removed from service, and the line's final freight train operated on April 21, 1992.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The North Shore Branch and the Arthur Kill Bridge were then taken over by Chessie's successor, CSX Transportation (CSX). The line and bridge were sold again in 1994 to the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC), followed by a decade of false starts.<ref name="SIRT" />Template:Rp

SIRT was transferred from the New York City Transit Authority's Surface Transit Division to its Department of Rapid Transit on July 26, 1993,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and that year the Dongan Hills station became accessible, making it compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> MetroCards were accepted for fare payment at the St. George station beginning on March 31, 1994, and the station became the 50th MTA rapid transit station to accept them.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) restored the line's original name on April 2 of that year as the MTA Staten Island Railway (SIR).<ref name="SIRT" />Template:Rp<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On July 4, 1997, the MTA eliminated fares for travel between Tompkinsville and Tottenville as part of the year's "One City, One Fare" fare reductions.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> United Transportation Union Local 1440, the union representing SIR employees, was concerned about the fare reduction in part because of an expected increase in ridership.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> No turnstiles were installed at the other stations on the line, and passengers at St. George began paying when entering and exiting;<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> fares had previously been collected on board by the conductor.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The removal of fares was blamed for an immediate spike in crime along the line.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Three afternoon express trains were added to the schedule on April 7, 1999, nearly doubling the previous express service. The express trains skipped stops between St. George and Great Kills.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> A several-hundred-foot section of the easternmost portion of the North Shore Branch was reopened for passenger service to the Richmond County Bank Ballpark, home of the Staten Island Yankees minor-league baseball team, on June 24, 2001; the service was discontinued on June 18, 2010.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> A new station building at Tompkinsville opened on January 20, 2010, with turnstiles installed to prevent passengers from exiting (free of charge) at Tompkinsville and walking the short distance to the St. George ferry terminal.<ref name="Mooney 2008" />

In the 2010s, elected officials on Staten Island, including State Senator Diane Savino, demanded the replacement of the railway's aging R44 cars.<ref name="Savino">Template:Cite web</ref> Although the Metropolitan Transportation Authority initially planned to order R179s for the Staten Island Railway, it was later decided to overhaul R46s to replace the R44s.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> However, the R46 overhaul plan was also dropped, and 75 R211S cars were ordered to replace the R44s.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="MTACapitalProgram">Template:Cite web</ref> The first R211S cars entered service in October 2024,<ref name="Brachfeld 2024" /><ref name="Matteo 2024" /> fully replacing the R44s by September 2025.<ref name="Russo-Lennon 2025" /><ref name="Trains 2025" />

Current use

Passenger service

Although the Staten Island Railway originally consisted of three lines, only the north-south Main Line is in passenger service. It has been grade-separated from all roads since the 1960s, but runs more or less at street level for a brief stretch north of Clifton, between the Grasmere and Old Town stations, and from south of the Pleasant Plains station to Tottenville—the end of the line. The terminus at St. George provides a direct connection with the Staten Island Ferry.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> St. George has twelve tracks, ten of which are in service. Tottenville has a three-track yard to the east of the station, which itself has two tracks and an island platform.<ref name="tracks">Template:NYCS const</ref>Template:Rp

Rolling stock consists of seventy-five R211S subway cars manufactured by Kawasaki Railcar Manufacturing.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The first R211S cars entered service on October 8, 2024,<ref name="Brachfeld 2024">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Matteo 2024">Template:Cite web</ref> and the final cars were placed into service less than a year later in September 2025.<ref name="Russo-Lennon 2025">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Trains 2025">Template:Cite web</ref> The line also has four BL20G locomotives manufactured by Brookville, which were delivered in 2009 and are used for work service.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Heavy maintenance is performed at NYCT's Clifton Shops, and any work unable to be done at Clifton requires the cars to be trucked over the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge to the subway's Coney Island Complex in Brooklyn. The right-of-way includes elevated, embankment and open-cut sections, as well as a tunnel near St. George.<ref name="tracks" />Template:Rp Prior to 2025, the Staten Island Railway used modified R44 subway-type cars built in early 1973,<ref name="tenyearprogram" />Template:Rp added to the end of the R44 order of subway cars for New York City Transit; they were the last cars built by the St. Louis Car Company.<ref name="Sansone 2004">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The R44s themselves replaced the ME-1 rolling stock inherited from the B&O that had remained in continuous service since 1925 when the system was electrified.<ref name="tenyearprogram" />Template:Rp<ref name="Sansone 2004" />Template:Rp<ref name="R44" />

The Staten Island Railway uses Baltimore & Ohio Railroad-style color position light signals dating back to its B&O days. In 2007, a $72-million project to enhance the old signal system was completed. The Signaling system was enhanced with an FRA-compliant 100 Hz, track-circuit-based automatic train control (ATC) signal system. As part of the project, forty R44 subway cars and four locomotives were modified with onboard cab signaling equipment for ATC bi-directional movement. A new rail control center and backup control center were built as part of the project.<ref name="Signal">Template:Cite web</ref> The line uses NYC Transit-standard 600 V DC third-rail power.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Trains run up to Template:Convert in passenger service, although trains are limited to Template:Convert on tail tracks, sidings and in yards.<ref name="Bascome 2022 p483">Template:Cite web</ref>

Disused Conductor indicator for a 5-car train at Grant City. Used during 5-car train tests in the early 2010s. By 2019, almost all of these had been removed, as the SIRTOA continued to use 4-car trains.

Demetrius Crichlow has been the railway's president and chief officer since his appointment in October 2024.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The workforce, about 200 hourly employees, is represented by United Transportation Union Local 1440.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Accessibility

Only the Dongan Hills, St. George, Great Kills, New Dorp and Tottenville stations have been renovated to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990; these stations have elevators and/or ramps.<ref name="MTA">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> As part of the MTA's 2020–2024 capital plan, two additional stations are planned to be renovated to become ADA-accessible, Huguenot and Clifton.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The Prince's Bay, Huguenot, Annadale, Great Kills, Dongan Hills, and Arthur Kill stations have park-and-ride facilities. The newest station on the Staten Island Railway, Arthur Kill, opened on January 21, 2017, and is ADA-compliant. The station is between (and has replaced) the now-demolished Atlantic and Nassau stations, which were in the poorest condition of all the stations on the line.<ref name="www.mta.info" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Police

On June 1, 2005, the Staten Island Rapid Transit Police Department was disbanded and its 25 railroad police officers became part of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Police Department. The MTA Police Department was created in 1998 with the merger of the Long Island Rail Road Police Department and the Metro-North Railroad Police Department. The MTA Police Department then opened its newest patrol district, Police District #9, which began covering the Staten Island Railway.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Fare

Template:Main Template:As of, the cash fare is $2.90, the same fare as the New York City Subway and MTA buses.<ref name=NYC311>Template:Cite web</ref> Fares are paid on entry and exit only at St. George and Tompkinsville. Rides not originating or terminating at St. George or Tompkinsville are free.<ref name="MTA2"/> Fares are payable by MetroCard or OMNY.<ref name=NYC311/> Since the card enables free transfers for a continuous ride on the subway and bus systems, for many riders there is effectively no fare for riding the SIR, as long as they do not need to make a second transfer. Riders can also transfer between a Staten Island bus, the SIR and a Manhattan bus (or subway) near South Ferry.<ref name="MTA2">Template:Cite web</ref> Because of this, the SIR's 2001 farebox recovery ratio was 0.16; for every dollar of expense, 16 cents was recovered in fares (the lowest ratio of MTA agencies).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The low farebox recovery ratio is part of the reason the MTA sought to merge the SIR with the subway to form MTA Subways in October 2002: to simplify accounting and subsidy of a single line.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Before the 1997 introduction of the one-fare zone,<ref name="mayors_message">Template:Cite web</ref> with the MetroCard's free transfers from the SIR to the subway system and MTA buses, fares were collected from passengers boarding at stops other than St. George by onboard conductors.<ref name="Linder">Template:Cite journal</ref> In the past, passengers had avoided paying the fare by exiting at Tompkinsville and walking a short distance to the St. George Ferry Terminal. As a result, the MTA installed turnstiles at Tompkinsville and a new station building, which opened on January 20, 2010.<ref name="Mooney 2008">Template:Cite news</ref>

On October 23, 2017, it was announced that the MetroCard would be phased out and replaced by OMNY, a contactless fare payment system also by Cubic, with fare payment being made using Apple Pay, Google Pay, debit/credit cards with near-field communication technology, or radio-frequency identification cards.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Barron 2017">Template:Cite news</ref> The St. George and Tompkinsville stations, the only two Staten Island Railway stations with turnstiles, received OMNY readers in December 2019.<ref name="Bascome 2020">Template:Cite web</ref>

Freight service

Template:See also During the early 2000s, plans to reopen the Staten Island Rapid Transit line in New Jersey were announced by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ). Since the Central Railroad of New Jersey became a New Jersey Transit line, a new junction would be built to the former Lehigh Valley Railroad. So all New England and southern freight could pass through the New York metropolitan area, two rail tunnels from Brooklyn (one to Staten Island and the other to Greenville, New Jersey) were planned.<ref name="envisionfreight.com 2011">Template:Cite web</ref>

On December 15, 2004, a $72 million project to reactivate freight service on Staten Island and repair the Arthur Kill Vertical Lift Bridge was announced by the NYCEDC and the PANYNJ. Projects on the Arthur Kill Bridge included repainting the steel superstructure and rehabilitating its lift mechanism.<ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Dead link</ref> In 2006, the freight line connection reopened from New Jersey to the Staten Island Railroad, including the Arthur Kill Bridge.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Regular service began on April 2, 2007 (16 years after it had closed)<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> to ship container freight from the Howland Hook Marine Terminal and other industrial businesses. The service at the marine terminal is part of the PANYNJ's ExpressRail system completed with of the single-track Chemical Coast connector.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite press release</ref> Service is provided by and Conrail Shared Assets Operations (CRCX) for its co-owners, CSX, Norfolk Southern Railway.

As part of the project, a portion of the North Shore Branch was rehabilitated, the Arlington Yard was expanded, and Template:Convert of new track was laid along the Travis Branch to Staten Island Transfer Station at Fresh Kills.<ref name="mycedc">Template:Cite web</ref> Soon after service restarted on the line, Mayor Michael Bloomberg officially commemorated the reactivation on April 17, 2007.<ref name="StatenIslandRailroad" /> As of 2019, the New York City Department of Sanitation's contractor was moving containers of municipal solid waste by barge from Queens and Manhattan to the Howland Hook Marine Terminal for transfer to rail there.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Along the remainder of the North Shore Branch, there are still tracks and rail overpasses in some places.<ref name="MTA-NSAA-Presentation-April20102">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="NorthShoreFeasibility-20042">Template:Cite web</ref>Template:Rp

Future plans

Template:Staten Island Railway annual ridership There has been discussion of building an in-fill station in the Rosebank neighborhood, which would bridge the longest gap between two stations (Grasmere and Clifton). The area was once home to the Rosebank station on the railway's now-defunct South Beach Branch, which was located east of the proposed station site.<ref name="Savino" />Template:Rp

Several proposals have been made to connect the SIR to the subway system, including the abandoned, unfinished Staten Island Tunnel and a line along the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge using B Division cars and loading gauge, but economic, political and engineering difficulties have prevented these projects from realization.<ref name="Raskin-RoutesNotTaken-2013">Template:Cite Routes Not Taken</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Possible branch restoration

In a 2006 report, the Staten Island Advance explored the restoration of passenger service on Template:Convert of the North Shore Branch between St. George and Arlington. Completion of a study is necessary to qualify the project for an estimated $360 million. A preliminary study found that ridership could reach 15,000 daily.<ref name="silive_reality2" /> U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer of New York requested $4 million of federal funding for a detailed feasibility study.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2012, the MTA released an analysis of North Shore transportation solutions which included proposals for the reintroduction of heavy rail, light rail or bus rapid transit using the North Shore line's right-of-way. Other options included system management, which would improve existing bus service, and the possibility of future ferry and water taxi service. Bus rapid transit was preferred for its cost ($352 million in capital investment) and relative ease of implementation. In January 2018, the project had yet to receive funding.<ref name="MTA-NSAA-20122">Template:Cite web</ref>Template:Rp As part of the 2015–2019 MTA Capital Program, $4 million was allocated for an analysis of Staten Island light rail.<ref name="Capital">Template:Cite web</ref>

Branches and stations

Main Line stations

Template:Asterisk Some local trains start at Huguenot during morning rush hours.<ref name="sirschedule" />

Normal service	Peak services			Station	Opened	Closed	Connections, notes
	Template:Abbr	Template:Abbr	Template:Abbr
Template:NYCS SSI	Template:NYCS SSI	Template:NYCS SSI	Template:NYCS SSI	St. George Terminal Template:SIR acc	March 7, 1886<ref name="st. george">Template:Cite news</ref>		Staten Island Ferry to Whitehall Terminal Template:Bus icon NYCT Bus: S40, S42, S44, S46, S48, S51, S52, S61, S62, S66, S74, S76, S78, S81, S84, S86, S90, S91, S92, S94, S96, S98<ref name=SIBus>Template:Cite NYC bus map</ref>
Template:NYCS SSI	Template:NYCS SSI	|	|	Tompkinsville	July 31, 1884<ref name="EssentialHistory2" />		Template:Bus icon NYCT Bus: S46, S48, S51, S61, S62, S66, S74, S76, S78, S81, S84, S86, S91, S92, S96, S98<ref name=SIBus />
Template:NYCS SSI	Template:NYCS SSI	|	|	Stapleton	July 31, 1884<ref name="EssentialHistory2" />		Template:Bus icon NYCT Bus: S51, S52, S74, S76, S78, S81, SIM30<ref name=SIBus />
Template:NYCS SSI	Template:NYCS SSI	|	|	Clifton	April 23, 1860<ref name="EssentialHistory2" />		Template:Bus icon NYCT Bus: S51<ref name=SIBus /> Originally Vanderbilt's Landing; no access from last car northbound<ref name="sirschedule" />
Template:NYCS SSI	Template:NYCS SSI	|	|	Grasmere	1886		Template:Bus icon NYCT Bus: S53<ref name=SIBus />
Template:NYCS SSI	Template:NYCS SSI	|	|	Old Town	1937<ref name="Map2">"The Staten Island Rapid Transit Railway Company Tariff Issued January 11, 1937 Effective February 15, 1937". Staten Island Rapid Transit Railway Company.</ref>		Originally Old Town Road
Template:NYCS SSI	Template:NYCS SSI	|	|	Dongan Hills Template:SIR acc	April 23, 1860<ref name="EssentialHistory2" />		Originally Garretson's
Template:NYCS SSI	Template:NYCS SSI	|	|	Jefferson Avenue	1937<ref name="New York State Transit Commission 1937">Template:Cite book</ref>
Template:NYCS SSI	Template:NYCS SSI	|	|	Grant City	April 23, 1860<ref name="EssentialHistory2" />		Template:Bus icon NYCT Bus: S51, S81<ref name=SIBus />
Template:NYCS SSI	Template:NYCS SSI	Template:NYCS SSI ↑	|	New Dorp Template:SIR acc	April 23, 1860<ref name="EssentialHistory2" />		Template:Bus icon NYCT Bus: S57, S76, S86<ref name=SIBus />
Template:NYCS SSI	Template:NYCS SSI	Template:NYCS SSI ↑	|	Oakwood Heights	April 23, 1860<ref name="EssentialHistory2" />		Template:Bus icon NYCT Bus: S57<ref name=SIBus /> Originally Richmond,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> then Court House,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> then Oakwood
Template:NYCS SSI	Template:NYCS SSI	Template:NYCS SSI ↑	|	Bay Terrace	Early 1900s		Replaced older Whitlock<ref>Reports of Decisions of the Public Service Commission, First District, of the State of New York, Volume 4. New York (State). Public Service Commission. First District, 1914, pgs 88–92</ref>
Template:NYCS SSI	Template:NYCS SSI	Template:NYCS SSI	Template:NYCS SSI	Great Kills Template:SIR acc	April 23, 1860<ref name="EssentialHistory2" />		Template:Bus icon NYCT Bus: Template:NYC bus link, Template:NYC bus link<ref name=SIBus /> Southern terminus for select rush hour local trains<ref name="sirschedule" /> Originally Gifford's
Template:NYCS SSI	* ↑	Template:NYCS SSI	Template:NYCS SSI	Eltingville	April 23, 1860<ref name="EssentialHistory2" />		Template:Bus icon NYCT Bus: Template:NYC bus link, Template:NYC bus link<ref name=SIBus />
				Woods of Arden	1886	c. 1894–1895	Closed
Template:NYCS SSI	* ↑	Template:NYCS SSI	Template:NYCS SSI	Annadale	May 14, 1860<ref name="EssentialHistory2" />		Template:Bus icon NYCT Bus: S55,<ref name=SIBus /> SIM23
Template:NYCS SSI	* ↑	Template:NYCS SSI	Template:NYCS SSI	Huguenot	June 2, 1860<ref name="EssentialHistory2" />		Template:Bus icon NYCT Bus: S55, Template:NYC bus link<ref name=SIBus /> Template:NYC bus link Some northbound local a.m. rush hour trips begin at this station<ref name="sirschedule" /> Originally Bloomingview, then Huguenot Park
Template:NYCS SSI		Template:NYCS SSI	Template:NYCS SSI	Prince's Bay	June 2, 1860<ref name="EssentialHistory2" />		Template:Bus icon NYCT Bus: S55, Template:NYC bus link, Template:NYC bus link<ref name=SIBus /> Originally Lemon Creek, then Princes Bay
Template:NYCS SSI		Template:NYCS SSI	Template:NYCS SSI	Pleasant Plains	June 2, 1860<ref name="EssentialHistory2" />		Template:Bus icon NYCT Bus: S55, Template:NYC bus link<ref name=SIBus />
Template:NYCS SSI		Template:NYCS SSI	Template:NYCS SSI	Richmond Valley	June 2, 1860<ref name="EssentialHistory2" />		Template:Bus icon NYCT Bus: Template:NYC bus link<ref name=SIBus /> No access from last car<ref name="threecar">Template:Cite web</ref>
				Nassau	c. 1924<ref name="EssentialHistory2" />	January 21, 2017<ref name="arthurkillopens">Template:Cite press release</ref>	Replaced by Arthur Kill<ref name="arthurkillopens" />
Template:NYCS SSI		Template:NYCS SSI	Template:NYCS SSI	Arthur Kill Template:SIR acc	January 21, 2017<ref name="arthurkillopens" /><ref name="www.mta.info">Template:Cite web</ref>		Template:Bus icon NYCT Bus: S74, S78, S84<ref name=SIBus />
				Atlantic	c.1909–1911<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	January 21, 2017<ref name="arthurkillopens" />	Replaced by Arthur Kill<ref name="arthurkillopens" />
Template:NYCS SSI		Template:NYCS SSI	Template:NYCS SSI	Tottenville Template:SIR acc	June 2, 1860<ref name="EssentialHistory2" />		Template:Bus icon NYCT Bus: S74, S78, S84<ref name=SIBus />

Template:AnchorFormer stations

North Shore Branch

The North Shore Branch closed to passenger service at midnight on March 31, 1953.<ref name="EssentialHistory2" /><ref name="drury" /><ref name="1953Closure2">Template:Cite news</ref> A small portion of the western end is used for freight service as part of the ExpressRail intermodal network at the Howland Hook Marine Terminal. The network, which opened in 2007, connects to the Chemical Coast after crossing the Arthur Kill Vertical Lift Bridge.<ref name="StatenIslandRailroad" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The North Shore Branch served Procter & Gamble,<ref name="envisionfreight.com 2011" /> United States Gypsum,<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> shipbuilders and a car float at Saint George Yard.<ref name="RoyalBlueLine" />Template:Rp A smaller eastern portion, which provided seasonal passenger service to the Richmond County Bank Ballpark station (where the Staten Island Yankees played), operated from June 24, 2001, to June 18, 2010.<ref name="MTA-BallparkCloseDate-20102">Template:Cite web</ref> In 2008, restoration was discussed along the mostly abandoned Template:Convert line as part of the island's light-rail plan.<ref name="silive_reality2">Template:Cite news</ref> An environmental impact assessment is being worked on for the implementation of a bus rapid transit line on the North Shore Branch.<ref name="MTA-Transit-Jul2018">Template:Cite web</ref>

The abandoned North Shore Branch, with the Bayonne Bridge in the background

Miles	Name	Opened	Closed	Notes
0	St. George	March 7, 1886
0.1	RCB Ballpark	June 24, 2001	June 18, 2010<ref name="MTA-BallparkCloseDate-20102" />
0.7	New Brighton	February 23, 1886<ref name="SIRTHistory2" />Template:Rp	March 31, 1953<ref name="1953Closure2" />
1.2	Sailors' Snug Harbor	February 23, 1886<ref name="SIRTHistory2" />Template:Rp	March 31, 1953<ref name="1953Closure2" />
1.8	Livingston	February 23, 1886<ref name="SIRTHistory2" />Template:Rp	March 31, 1953<ref name="1953Closure2" />
2.4	West Brighton	February 23, 1886<ref name="SIRTHistory2" />Template:Rp	March 31, 1953<ref name="1953Closure2" />
3.0	Port Richmond	February 23, 1886<ref name="SIRTHistory2" />Template:Rp	March 31, 1953<ref name="1953Closure2" />
3.4	Tower Hill	February 23, 1886<ref name="SIRTHistory2" />Template:Rp	March 31, 1953<ref name="1953Closure2" />
3.9	Elm Park	February 23, 1886<ref name="SIRTHistory2" />Template:Rp	March 31, 1953<ref name="1953Closure2" />
4.3	Lake Avenue	1937<ref name="New York State Transit Commission 1937" />	March 31, 1953<ref name="1953Closure2" />
4.6	Mariners Harbor	Summer 1886	March 31, 1953<ref name="1953Closure2" />	Originally named Erastina
4.9	Harbor Road	1935–1937<ref name="NYTImes-SIRTNB-GradeCross-1937">Template:Cite news</ref>	March 31, 1953<ref name="1953Closure2" />
5.2	Arlington	1889–1890	March 31, 1953<ref name="1953Closure2" />
6.1	Port Ivory	1906	1948<ref name="SIRT" />Template:Rp

South Beach Branch

The South Beach Branch opened on January 1, 1888, to Arrochar,<ref name="New York State Board of Railroad Commissioners 1889" />Template:Rp<ref name="The New York Times 1888" /> and was extended to South Beach in 1893.<ref name="American Bank Note Company 1895" /><ref name="South Beach Branch2" /> The branch closed at midnight on March 31, 1953.<ref name="drury" /><ref name="1953Closure2" /> It was abandoned and demolished, except for a few segments: a concrete embankment at Clayton Street and Saint John's Avenue,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> the Tompkins Avenue overpass, trestle over Robin Road in Arrochar<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and a filled-in bridge under McClean Avenue.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> This Template:Convert line left the Main Line at Template:Coord (south of the Clifton station), and was east of the Main Line. Although the right-of-way has been redeveloped, most of it is still traceable on maps; Lily Pond Avenue is built over the right of way where it passes under the Staten Island Expressway.<ref name="ShoreFrontDrive">Template:Cite book</ref>

Template:AnchorThe Robin Road trestle is the only remaining intact trestle along the former line. Developers purchased the land on either side of its abutments during the early 2000s, and the developers, the New York City Department of Transportation, and the New York City Transit Authority all claimed ownership. Townhouses have been built on both sides of the trestle.<ref name="ShoreFrontDrive" /><ref name="Advance 20082">Template:Cite web</ref>

Abandoned trestle over Robin Road

Miles	Name	Opened	Closed
2.0	Bachmann	January 1, 1888<ref name="New York State Board of Railroad Commissioners 1889" />Template:Rp<ref name="The New York Times 1888" />	1937
2.1	Rosebank	January 1, 1888<ref name="New York State Board of Railroad Commissioners 1889" />Template:Rp<ref name="The New York Times 1888" />	March 31, 1953<ref name="1953Closure2" />
2.5	Belair Road	January 1, 1888<ref name="New York State Board of Railroad Commissioners 1889" />Template:Rp<ref name="The New York Times 1888" />	March 31, 1953<ref name="1953Closure2" />
2.7	Fort Wadsworth	January 1, 1888<ref name="New York State Board of Railroad Commissioners 1889" />Template:Rp<ref name="The New York Times 1888" />	March 31, 1953<ref name="1953Closure2" />
3.2	Arrochar	January 1, 1888<ref name="New York State Board of Railroad Commissioners 1889" />Template:Rp<ref name="The New York Times 1888" />	March 31, 1953<ref name="1953Closure2" />
3.5	Cedar Avenue	1931<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>	March 31, 1953<ref name="1953Closure2" />
3.9	South Beach	1893<ref name="American Bank Note Company 1895" />	March 31, 1953<ref name="1953Closure2" />
4.1	Wentworth Avenue	1925<ref name="EdwardBommer2">Template:Cite book</ref>	March 31, 1953<ref name="1953Closure2" />

Freight lines

Travis Branch

The Travis Branch, from Arlington Yard to Fresh Kills, runs along the island's West Shore. The branch was built in 1928 to serve Gulf Oil along the Arthur Kill, south from Arlington Yard into the marshes to Gulfport.<ref name="Clarion-Ledger 1930" /> It was extended to Travis to serve the new Consolidated Edison power plant in 1957.<ref name="SIRT" />Template:Rp In 2005, the branch was renovated and extended from the old Con Edison plant to the Staten Island Transfer Station at Fresh Kills; regular service to the transfer station began in April 2007.<ref name="StatenIslandRailroad">Template:Cite press release on December 23, 2007.</ref>

Mount Loretto Spur

The Mount Loretto Spur is an abandoned branch whose purpose was to serve the Mount Loretto Children's Home. The spur diverged from the Main Line south of Pleasant Plains.<ref name="SIRT" />Template:Rp The B&O Railroad served the non-electrified branch, which had some industry and a passenger station, until 1950. Although its track was removed during the 1960s and 1970s, some ties were visible until the 1980s. A coal trestle is all that remains of the branch.<ref name="EssentialHistory2" />Template:Rp

West Shore Line

South of the Richmond Valley station, a non-electrified spur, branched off the Tottenville-bound track. The spur, built in 1928, was called the West Shore Line by the B&O Railroad and delivered building materials to the Outerbridge Crossing construction site near Arthur Kill.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Years later, the track was used to serve a scrapyard owned by the Roselli Brothers.<ref name="SIRT" />Template:Rp This siding went out of service on June 14, 2011.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The track divided in two under Page Avenue, with the rails still in place.<ref name="RichmondValleyRoad">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The line's right-of-way, an easement on property owned by Nassau Metals, was later used by CSX.<ref name="RichmondValleyRoad" />Template:Rp Although sections of the old tracks have been removed, others remain in the overgrowth.<ref name="Curbed">Template:Cite web</ref>

See also

• Cross-Harbor Rail Tunnel

External links

• Template:Official website
• Template:NYCS const
• SIRT artifacts in the Staten Island Historical Society Online Collections Database