Morris Heights station (also known as Morris Heights–West 177th Street station) is a commuter rail stop on the Metro-North Railroad's Hudson Line, serving the Morris Heights neighborhood of the Bronx, New York City.
The station is located in the narrow strip of land between the Major Deegan Expressway and the Harlem River, next to Roberto Clemente State Park. It is also located across from the Dr. Roland N. Patterson School complex, which was built over the tracks between the bridges for Harlem River Park Drive and West Tremont Avenue.
History
The station has operated since the days of the Spuyten Duyvil and Port Morris Railroad as well as the New York and Putnam Railroad late in the 19th century, though not in its present form. The station was previously named "Morris Docks" until the 1890s because it served the docks of the Harlem River waterfront which included Gas Engine & Power Company & Charles L. Seabury Company, a shipbuilding firm located on Mathewson Road along the west side of the tracks. Founded in 1896 by the merger of the formerly separate Gas Engine & Power Company & Charles L. Seabury Company, the firm operated along Morris Heights' waterfront until it moved to City Island following World War II. Passenger service on the Putnam Division ended on June 1, 1958, but continued along the Hudson Division. As with many New York Central Railroad (NYCRR) stations in the Bronx, the station became a Penn Central station upon the merger between NYCRR and Pennsylvania Railroad in 1968. The 1970 bankruptcy of Penn Central forced it to turn service over to "MTA Central." During this time, the former Morris Heights waterfront was replaced by the Harlem River State Park, which was renamed in honor of former Pittsburg Pirates legend Roberto Clemente. MTA rebuilt Morris Heights as well many of the stations along the Hudson Line in the mid-1970's in New York City as part of a mass reconstruction project. Penn Central continued freight service until it was taken over by Conrail in 1976. Later in the decade, the Dr. Roland N. Patterson School complex was built over the tracks Harlem River Park Drive and West Tremont Avenue. Conrail and MTA turned the station over to Metro-North Railroad in 1983.
Station layout
The station has one narrow, four-car-long high-level island platform accessible from West Tremont Avenue (West 177th Street).