Staten Island Railway

Staten Island Railway (SIR) or Staten Island Rapid Transit (SIRT) is a rapid transit line operating in the Borough of Staten Island, New York City, USA. It began, like the lines to Coney Island, as a typical railway, but it now uses subway cars (R44). It has been completely grade-separated from intersecting roads since the last grade crossing was eliminated in 1965, and is connected to the rest of the city and the New York City Subway by the free Staten Island Ferry.

Officially the Staten Island Rapid Transit Operating Authority (SIRTOA), and publicly styled as MTA Staten Island Railway, the SIR is a direct subsidiary of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). SIRTOA operates and maintains the commuter rail line on Staten Island pursuant to a lease and operating agreement with the City of New York. Current plans are to merge MTA Staten Island Railway with MTA New York City Transit's subway division to form MTA Subways.[1]

Background

Originally, the SIRT operated three lines: A main north-south line covering the island end-to-end, a North Shore Branch with connections to Cranford Junction in New Jersey via a bridge that spans the Arthur Kill immediately north of the Goethals Bridge, and a South Beach Branch (the North Shore Branch is linked with the nationwide rail network; on May 11, 1943, Britsh Prime Minister Winston Churchill used it en route to a meeting with President Franklin D. Roosevelt in Washington, D.C after his ship had landed in Tompkinsville). Today, only the north-south Main Line is in service. The last passenger trains on both the North Shore and South Beach Branches ran on March 31, 1953 (the right-of-way of the South Beach Branch was eventually de-mapped and the tracks have been removed), and the North Shore Branch saw its last freight train in 1990, although the tracks still exist. The terminal station at St. George provides a direct connection to the Staten Island Ferry. In 2001, a small section of the North Shore branch was reopened to serve the new Richmond County Bank Ballpark, home of the Staten Island Yankees; plans to reopen the remainder of the branch, to both freight and passenger service, are being studied, with one plan calling for the line to resume full operations between St. George and Port Ivory by 2015, though freight operations may resume earlier.

In 1971 the former Staten Island Rapid Transit Railway Company was acquired from its parent Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and became an MTA subsidiary for purposes of operation and maintenance; in March, 1973, new R44 cars — the same as the newest cars then in use on the subway lines in the other boroughs — were pressed into service on the Staten Island line, replacing the rolling stock that had been inherited from the Baltimore and Ohio days and had been in use since 1925 (the R44 cars were still running on the line as of 2004).

In 1994, as part of a public image campaign of the MTA, the various operating agencies of the MTA were given "popular names" at which time the public face of SIRTOA became MTA Staten Island Railway, which name is used on trains, stations, timetables and other public presentments.

FRA oversight

Unlike the New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) SIRTOA is subject to rules of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) but operates under a waiver which permits it to exempt itself from certain rules of equipment and operation usually required by the FRA.

This FRA status complicates any plan for combined freight and passenger operation, since any operation of freight equipment or connection to the national railroad system would threaten its waiver.

Nature of the Line

In general appearance, the current operating line of SIR looks somewhat
like a line of the New York Subway. It is grade-separated from nearby roadways throughout most of its length (save for a brief stretch between the Grasmere and Old Town stations west of the Academy of St. Dorothy, a Roman Catholic elementary school, and south of the Pleasant Plains
station it runs more or less at street level, except for crossing under
Arthur Kill Road just south of the Nassau station), it uses third rail
power, and its equipment is specially modified subway equipment,
purchased at the same time as nearly identical cars for the NYCTA.
Heavy maintenance of the equipment is performed at the Coney Island
Shops of the NYCTA.

The right-of-way includes elevated, embankment and open-cut portions,
and a tunnel near St. George.

Fares

The cash fare is $2. Fares are paid on entry and exit only at St. George and Ball Park (and in the case of the latter, only on trains to Tottenville, not St. George), rides not originating at St. George or Ball Park are free.

Fare is also payable by MetroCard. Since this card enables free transfers for a continuing ride on the subway and bus systems, for many more riders there is effectively no fare at all for riding SIR. Because of this, the SIRs farebox recovery ratio in 2001 was 0.16—that is, for every dollar of expense, 16 cents was recovered in fares, the lowest ratio of MTA agencies.

Operating Stations

Stations on Main Line:

Ball Park (Richmond County Bank Ballpark)
St. George (Staten Island Ferry Terminal)
Tompkinsville
Stapleton
Clifton
Grasmere
Old Town (formerly Old Town Road)
Dongan Hills
Jefferson Avenue
Grant City
New Dorp
Oakwood Heights
Bay Terrace
Great Kills
Eltingville
Annadale
Huguenot (formerly Huguenot Park)
Prince's Bay
Pleasant Plains
Richmond Valley
Nassau
Atlantic
Tottenville

Ball Park is only open for events at the minor league park and is served either by trains that run from St. George as a shuttle, or trains that stop at every other stop except for St. George.