History of the Staten Island Railway

[8] Since the plan conceived by the local residents followed Vanderbilt's proposed route, he helped charter the Staten Island Railroad Company (SIRR) on August 2, 1851, in order to build the rail line.

Two possible route options were considered; the first would start at New Ferry Dock in Stapleton, before passing through Rocky Hollow, following the valley between Castleton and Southfield Heights before descending to New Dorp.

The funds also helped pay for the construction of a bridge over the Kill Van Kull, the acquisition of 2 miles (3.2 km) of waterfront property, and for terminal facilities at St.

[43]: 841 Construction of the North Shore Branch began on March 17, 1884, after a number of legal proceedings; a party of surveyors started marking out the grades and broke ground for the roadbed.

[45] The B&O built about 2 miles (3.2 km) of rock fill out from shore and along the Kill Van Kull to deal with opposition from property owners in the neighborhood of Sailors' Snug Harbor, costing an additional $25,000.

The accepted plan consisted of a 5.25 miles (8.45 km)-long section from the Arthur Kill to meet the Jersey Central at Cranford, through Roselle Park and Linden in Union County.

[97] In July 1911, the Public Service Commission (PSC) ordered the SIRT to install gates at several grade crossings on the North Shore Division to increase safety and reduce the frequent occurrence of accidents.

This issue came up as a result of a complaint made by Reverend Father Charles A. Cassidy about noise from the switching of cars and steam locomotives in the St. George freight yards.

[104] In October 1912, work installing the new signaling system on the Perth Amboy Division was complete, with the exception of the single-track segment between Annadale and Pleasant Plains, which had a switch at Huguenot.

[105] In November 1912, the Board of Estimate issued a notice for the final hearing on SIRT's application to double-track the Annadale to Pleasant Plains section, which would take place on December 5.

[106] On December 17, 1912, the State Supreme Court in Brooklyn received an application for the appointment of a commission to assess and appraise the properties needed for the widening of Amboy Road, which would be part of the project to abolish the grade crossing there.

[111] Some time earlier, at a PSC hearing, it was recommended that the SIRT consider eliminating eleven additional grade crossings, with those on the Amboy Division being at Jefferson Blvd in Annadale, at Liberty Avenue in Dongan Hills, and at Clove Road in Grasmere.

[112] As part of the project, grades were adjusted, and the roadbed was well ballasted and had heavy rail tracks installed, improving its condition to the higher standard that was maintained on the rest of the line.

[119] The New York State Transit Commission, on August 15, 1919, ordered the SIRT to eliminate the grade crossing at Virginia Avenue by lowering that street under the existing rail line, with a clearance of 14 feet (4.3 m).

[133] The promise of a faster, more reliable electrified service spurred developers and private individuals to purchase land alongside the SIRT lines, with the intention of providing housing to attract residents to Staten Island.

The Gulf Oil Corporation opened a dock and tank farm along the 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.

[192] On July 16, the PSC counsel stated the operating deficits that had been charged to the SIRT's passenger service would disappear if they were included with the freight profits of the B&O in the New York area.

[200] The PSC warned that if it discontinued its passenger service, action would be taken to remove the SIRT's parent company, the B&O Railroad, from Staten Island, meaning the end of its prospering freight operation.

Since this sub-division did not need the trains cars left over from the closure of the North Shore and South Beach lines, the SIRT sold 35 of them, of which 5 were trailers, to the New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) in 1953–1954 for $10,000 each.

[215] In May 1968, the President of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), William Ronan, proposed that New York City take control of the SIRT and spend $25 million on modernizing the line.

[224] In December 1976, SIRTOA recently completed projects to provide remote control of SIRT's electrical substations from the central one at St. George, and to install a two-way radio system.

In response to complaints from nearby residents, the design of the substation was modified to blend in with the character of the surrounding residential area, and would be constructed within the SIRT's open cut right-of-way.

[231] Tokens could be bought at vending machines between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. at Huguenot, Annadale, Eltingville, Great Kills, Oakwood Heights, New Dorp, Grant City, and Dongan Hills, and at St. George at all times.

[246]: 75 In 1993, a report by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) criticized the MTA for not installing an automatic speed control (ASC) system on the railway to prevent collisions and overspeed violations.

[243] In August 2003, it was reported that the SIR would overhaul three railroad bridges (Bay Street south of Clifton, and two crossings of Amboy Road) the following year for $7.2 million, which would require service to operate on a single track in sections.

[271] In a 2006 report, the Staten Island Advance explored the restoration of passenger services on 5.1-mile (8.2 km) of the North Shore Branch between St. George Ferry Terminal and Arlington station.

[4]: 9 [45] On April 24, 1985, following a major decline in freight traffic, the Chessie System sold the SIRC to the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway (NYS&W), a subsidiary of the Delaware Otsego Corporation (DO), for $1.5 million via a promissory note payable for ten years.

[289] In October 1989, the NYS&W embargoed 4 miles (6,400 m) of trackage east of Elm Park on the North Shore Branch, ending rail freight traffic to Saint George.

[45] In December 2004, a $72 million project to reactivate freight service on Staten Island and to repair the Arthur Kill Vertical Lift Bridge was announced by the NYCEDC and the Port Authority.

[297] Service was provided by CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern Railway, and Conrail over the Travis Branch to haul waste from the Staten Island Transfer Station at Fresh Kills and ship container freight from the Howland Hook Marine Terminal and other industrial businesses.

A Staten Island Railway local train of R44s at the Oakwood Heights station
A plan from 1883 showing the planned routes of the North Shore and East Shore lines in addition to the then-existing line.
SIRT timetable, circa 1867
Share of the Staten Island Rail Road Company, issued 28. March 1864, signed by William Henry Vanderbilt as president
1874 timetable
Proposed Staten Island Transit route map. "Existing Ferry Routes are indicated by blue lines." Issued c. 1884 by E.C. Bridgman, NY, Map Publisher.
November 3, 1887 Staten Island Rapid Transit Railroad Timetable
Baltimore & Ohio Viaduct Under Construction Over the Arthur Kill Connecting Staten Island and New Jersey
A Map of the Staten Island Rapid Transit Company from 1885
A view of a steam locomotive that used to run on the SIRT prior to electrification.
This map from 1922 shows the proposed connected West Shore Line.
This plaque at Eltingville commemorates the completion of the grade crossing elimination project between Great Kills and Huguenot.
A view of St. George Terminal before its destruction by a fire in 1946.
This map of the Staten Island Rapid Transit from 1952 shows the system at its greatest extent, and was published a year before service on the North Shore and South Beach branches was discontinued.
This poster called for people, and public officials, to rally against the scheduled discontinuation of service on the North Shore and South Beach Branches later in March 1953.
A view of the Arthur Kill Lift Bridge built in 1958.
A view of the new R44 train cars put into service once the rail line was under the auspices of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
The right-of-way for the North Shore Branch still exists, but some portions of, such as the areas along the Kill van Kull, which can be seen in this picture, need extensive work to be done for it to be reactivated for heavy rail, light rail, or bus use.
The Arthur Kill station opened in January 2017, replacing the Nassau and Atlantic stations. It was the first new station to open on the railway since the 1930s.