Comments on: The futureNYCSubway: Staten Island

By: vanshnookenraggen

vanshnookenraggen — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 19:51:23 +0000

Any new subway would have to be compatible with existing rolling stock otherwise any savings would be eaten up by needing to build an entire new infrastructure.

By: Dave Moog

Dave Moog — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 18:43:28 +0000

I have been reading about the Montreal Metro and how they were able to cut costs by using one large tunnel for two sets of tracks. I think an new rail line from the Fulton Transit Center in downtown Manhattan to Staten Island vis Governors Island, Red hook and a stop in western Brooklyn would be the best plan. By having a Montreal (or Paris) style rubber wheel subway, tunneled at about $150 million per km (the present cost being expended for the Laval extension) you could not only tunnel under the bay but build a subway down either Victory or Forest Avenues. Converting the SIRT and the North Shore line to the same subway car type you could have all the lines terminate at the Fulton Transit Center. Then any extension (be it West Shore, MLK xway, Richmond Ave ect) could be above ground since the rubber wheels produce little noise.

Now that Mayor Bloomberg is trying to get the $10 billion the Governor Christie gave up on the NJ Transit extension into Penn Station, some of those funds should be used to give the county with the longest commuter travel time a new transit system.

By: Ian hardy

Ian hardy — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 19:46:00 +0000

I had an idea of creating subway lines based on the previous proposals as far back as the 1900s but, as I was told by by my classmate who also lives in Staten Island,the tectonic plates under Staten Island makes it difficult to build subways underground. so building a line along the Staten Island Expressway would leave you with only two options. either an el or a trench. the main line and the north shore branch of the SIR will remain unchanged since they’re both outside. building subway lines along the main roads in Staten Island would be difficult such as victory Blvd and Forest avenue

By: vanshnookenraggen

vanshnookenraggen — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 20:40:08 +0000

Not to mention that the only way on and off the island (in any major way) is via car/bus. At some point the bridges just won’t be able to handle the growth and ferries will only go so far. Even a connection to NJT via Bayone or Newark will be a good option (not the best but whatever).

By: dreamking

dreamking — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 19:46:49 +0000

You don’t build for the density you have, you build for the density you want to see (and in tandem work to ensure the zoning laws are moved to support it). Just look at Queens and Brooklyn.

This city needs to create almost a million housing units in short order if we’re going to keep up with projected population increases AND make a dent in the overly-expensive median prices. Staten Island is a good place to meet some of this work.

By: Denilson Gomez

Denilson Gomez — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 17:07:59 +0000

Like Anthony Brancato’s idea of taking the North Shore RR to Howland Hook and then cross the bridge parallel to the Goethals Bridge into New Jersey, it can go north along New Jersey Turnpike and go to Newark Libetry International Airport.

By: vanshnookenraggen

vanshnookenraggen — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 03:28:38 +0000

I combined Google Maps in Photoshop and drew the subway lines in Illustrator, then imported them into Photoshop and added the extra stuff.

By: mike

mike — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 00:27:43 +0000

I was wondering the program you used for the maps with your recommendations for Staten Island subway lines.

By: Anthony Brancato

Anthony Brancato — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 14:34:39 +0000

Beyond Arligton, the North Shore Railway once had a stop at Howland Hook (its official name was Milliken at first, later Port Ivory), which was closed a few years before passenger service on the line as a whole was stopped in 1953; then the line continues on across its own bridge parallel to the Goethals Bridge into New Jersey, where it proceeds to Cranford Junction, with stops such as Roselle Park along the way. Furthermore, a West Shore spur branches off from the main line between Arlington and Howland Hook, and proceeds all the way down to Victory Blvd. in Travis; conceivably, this could be extended to meet the present SIR near its present Nassau station.

By: William M

William M — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 16:18:20 +0000

I don’t think any train will be able to utilize the Verrazano Narrows Bridge. The bridge’s approach is too steep. Robert Moses did it on purpose. To prevent any future rail serivce from using his bridge. So any possible extension cross the bridge would be impratical and even if the train makes it up there the bridge was never built to handle heavy rail traffic so you would have severe problems with oscillation.

By: jeremy machado

jeremy machado — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 05:47:17 +0000

Although the Manhattan-Staten Island Tube sounds more costly, I for sure know it’s the best option for the City of NY. Did you know that South Korea is currently building the longest underwater tube for high speed rail. This is America and NYC is the capital of the world. We as Americans and New Yorkers should have no excuse. We as a people need to think big. 30 to 50 years from now NYC will have roughly 10 to mabey 18 million. We need transportation alternatives that are going to move people from place to place at a faster pace!!!

By: Frank T

Frank T — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 02:24:58 +0000

I think the best proposal to Staten Island is the 1939 proposal with a line branching off the Culver line. I think that would be easier and cheaper to build a tunnel from Brooklyn than the tunnel from Manhattan.

By: jeremy machado

jeremy machado — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 20:54:09 +0000

The best option for Staten Island is a mentioned above is a direct underwater subway tunnel to Manhattan via the 2nd ave line. Further more an extension on the Ft. Hamilton Pkwy line via the Verrazano Bridge will be of good use to connect Brooklyn and Staten Island.

By: Anon256

Anon256 — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 17:36:17 +0000

While the Staten Island Railway is technically an FRA-regulated railroad, it has a waiver from the FRA that allows it to run ordinary R44 subway cars with minor modifications. (PATH has a similar arrangement.) As the SIR has not seen a freight train in years (aside from the far west end of the north shore branch) the FRA would almost certainly permit through-routing of subway trains/transfer of the line to FTA rules if a connection were built.

The Bayonne bridge as it currently exists actually has space for either two additional road lanes or a two-track rail line, so the HBLR could be extended over it (“jacked-up” or not) without a new bridge.

While a direct Staten Island-Manhattan tunnel would be expensive, I think you underestimate the extent to which it would be and improvement over the ferry. A direct train could make it from St George to Manhattan in 7 minutes or less, and could run much more frequently than the ferry. Staten Island currently has the longest commute times in the nation. A direct rail tunnel would give it a link to Manhattan comparable to that enjoyed by the other boroughs, which would revolutionize development there. Such a tunnel probably makes most sense in the context of an RER-like super-express/regional rail system as proposed at http://www.thetransportpolitic.com/2010/03/10/new-york-regional-rail-a-coda/ to allow fast access to midtown and other parts of the region, but even a fast subway-based link to downtown would be a huge benefit for Staten Island.