New York Tunnel Extension

The New York Tunnel Extension (also New York Improvement and Tunnel Extension) is a combination of railroad tunnels and approaches from New Jersey and Long Island to Pennsylvania Station in Midtown Manhattan.

It was built by the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) at the beginning of the 20th century to improve railroad access throughout the greater New York metropolitan area, and led to the line's then-new passenger facility, Pennsylvania Station.

Planning

The PRR had consolidated its control of railroads in New Jersey with the lease of United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company in 1871, thereby extending its rail network from Philadelphia northward to Jersey City. Crossing the Hudson River, however, remained a major obstacle. To the east, the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) ended at the East River. In both situations, passengers had to transfer to ferries to Manhattan. This put the PRR at a disadvantage relative to its closest competitor, the New York Central Railroad, which already served Manhattan via its Grand Central Station.

Early tunnel and bridge proposals

Various plans to build a physical link across the Hudson River were discussed as early as the 1870s, and both tunnel and bridge projects were considered by the railroads and government officials. A tunnel project for the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad (H&M), a rapid transit line, began in 1874, and encountered serious engineering, financial and legal obstacles. The project was halted in 1880 after a blowout accident that cost 20 lives. (Work on the H&M tunneling project, later known as the Uptown Hudson Tubes, continued intermittently but was not completed until 1906; it was opened to passenger trains in 1908.)

The technology of tunnel-building was still primitive and risky in the 1880s, and this gave impetus to a major bridge design proposal promoted by engineer Gustav Lindenthal. The Panic of 1893 made large capital investments nearly impossible for some time, as one third of the nation's railroads failed. They included construction of new tunnels between Jersey City and Manhattan, and possibly a tunnel via Brooklyn and the East River; new terminals in midtown Manhattan for both the PRR and LIRR; completion of the Hudson Tubes; and a bridge proposal. In December 1901, the plans were modified so that the PRR would construct the North River Tunnels under the Hudson River, instead of a bridge over it. The PRR cited costs and land value as a reason for constructing a tunnel rather than a bridge, since the cost of a tunnel would be one-third that of a bridge. The North River Tunnels themselves would consist of between two and four steel tubes with the diameter of . The New York Tunnel Extension quickly gained opposition from the New York City Board of Rapid Transit Commissioners, who objected that they would not have jurisdiction over the new tunnels, as well as from the Interborough Rapid Transit Company, which saw the New York Tunnel Extension as a potential competitor to its as-yet-incomplete rapid transit service. The project was approved by the New York City Board of Aldermen in December 1902, on a 41-36 vote. The North and East River Tunnels were to be built under the riverbed of their respective rivers. The PRR and LIRR lines would converge at New York Penn Station, an expansive Beaux-Arts edifice between 31st and 33rd Streets in Manhattan. The entire project was expected to cost over $100 million.

The PRR created subsidiaries to manage the project. The Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York Railroad and the Pennsylvania, New York and Long Island Rail Road, were the New Jersey and New York parts, respectively. The PNJ&NY was incorporated February 13, 1902, and the PNY&LI was incorporated April 21, 1902. They were consolidated into the Pennsylvania Tunnel and Terminal Railroad (PT&T) on June 26, 1907. As of 2021, there are revived plans to renovate and expand the Meadows and North River divisions as part of the Gateway Program.

Meadows Division

The original PRR route in New Jersey ran to the Exchange Place ferry terminal in Jersey City. The Meadows Division project built a new, approximately route from the PRR main line at Harrison, New Jersey, northeast to the west end of the new tunnels. This involved constructing a new station at Harrison, Manhattan Transfer, along with a rail yard, to provide for changing between steam and electric locomotives. Northeast from this new station the double track line was built. It crossed over the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad and Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad on the Sawtooth Bridges; the Hackensack River on the Portal Bridge; and on embankment through the Hackensack Meadowlands to the west portal of the tunnels under Bergen Hill in the Palisades. Service from New Jersey to Manhattan began on November 27, 1910, once Penn Station was completed.

East River Division

The East River Division managed construction of tunnels running across Manhattan, and under the East River to Queens. The East River Tunnels are four single-track tunnels that extend from the eastern end of Pennsylvania Station and cross the East River. The same tube, with an inscription indicating that it had been displayed at the Exposition, was later installed under water and remains in use. Construction was completed on the East River tunnels on March 18, 1908. LIRR service to Penn Station began on September 8, 1910.

thumb|center|600px|A diagram showing how [[Pennsylvania Railroad tracks reached Manhattan|alt=A diagram of the tunnels, stating: "How Pennsylvania Railroad tracks reached Manhattan. The underwater sections, usually called tunnels, are really tubes suspended in silt."]]

Operation during the PRR era

thumb|An electric engine exiting one of the tunnels at Penn station,

By the time construction was complete, the total project cost for the station and associated tunnels was $114 million (equivalent to $ billion in ), according to an Interstate Commerce Commission report.

The electrification of the New York Tunnel Extension, including the station, was initially 600-volt direct-current third rail. In New Jersey the third rail ended at Manhattan Transfer, where all trains stopped to change steam and electric engines. and the Exchange Place PRR terminal closed in 1961.

One branch, the freight-only Harrison Branch, split off the line just east of its west end and ran west to a connection with the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad's Harrison Cut-off and the Erie Railroad's Paterson and Newark Branch.

Trackage rights

The following non-PRR railroads used the line:

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad during World War I
Lehigh Valley Railroad
New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad

Operation by successor railroads

The PRR merged into Penn Central Transportation in 1968. All of Penn Central's property was conveyed to Amtrak on April 1, 1976, when Conrail's system was formed. The Tunnel Extension is now part of Amtrak's Northeast Corridor; New Jersey Transit and the Long Island Rail Road use the western and eastern sections, respectively, to reach New York Penn Station.

References

Bibliography

Paper No. 1152.
Paper No. 1153.
Paper No. 1154.
Paper No. 1158.
Paper No. 1159.