Hudson Line (Metro-North)

Hudson Line
A northbound Hudson Line train going through the Hudson Highlands
Overview
Status	Operating
Owner	Argent Ventures
Locale	New York City, Westchester, Putnam, and Dutchess counties
Termini	Grand Central Terminal Poughkeepsie
Stations	29
Service
Type	Commuter rail line
System	Metro-North
Operator(s)	Metro-North
Technical
Track length	74 mi (118 km)
Character	Commuter rail
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
Route map Hudson Line (Empire Corridor) to Albany–Rensselaer Poughkeepsie Yard 73.5 mi 118.3 km Poughkeepsie Zone 9 Zone 8 66.0 mi 106.2 km New Hamburg Wappingers Creek 59.0 mi 95 km Beacon Beacon Line Fishkill Creek Newburgh, Dutchess & Connecticut RR Dutchess Junction (closed) Zone 8 Zone 7 55.0 mi 88.5 km Breakneck Ridge Breakneck Tunnel 52.5 mi 84.5 km Cold Spring Garrison Tunnel (southbound) 49.9 mi 80.3 km Garrison 46.0 mi 74 km Manitou Anthony's Nose Tunnel Middle Tunnel Little Tunnel Roa Hook (closed) Annsville Creek Zone 7 Zone 6 41.2 mi 66.3 km Peekskill Montrose (closed) 38.4 mi 61.8 km Cortlandt Crugers (closed) Oscawana (closed) Oscawana Tunnel Zone 6 Zone 5 Croton North (closed) end of electrification 33.2 mi 53.4 km Croton–Harmon Croton River 30.8 mi 49.6 km Ossining 29.5 mi 47.5 km Scarborough 26.5 mi 42.6 km Philipse Manor 25.2 mi 40.6 km Tarrytown Zone 5 Zone 4 22.7 mi 36.5 km Irvington 21.7 mi 34.9 km Ardsley-on-Hudson 20.7 mi 33.3 km Dobbs Ferry 19.5 mi 31.4 km Hastings-on-Hudson Zone 4 Zone 3 17.8 mi 28.6 km Greystone 16.2 mi 26.1 km Glenwood 15.1 mi 24.3 km Yonkers 14.3 mi 23 km Ludlow Mount St. Vincent closed Zone 3 Zone 2 13.0 mi 20.9 km Riverdale Penn Station Access (proposed) 13.0 mi 20.9 km Empire Connection to Penn Station   13.0 mi 20.9 km Spuyten Duyvil Bridge West 125th Street (proposed) West 62nd Street (proposed) Penn Station 11.1 mi 17.9 km Spuyten Duyvil 9.8 mi 15.8 km Marble Hill BN Yard (former Putnam Line) 8.7 mi 14 km University Heights 8.1 mi 13 km Morris Heights Oak Point Link Highbridge Facility 6.0 mi 9.7 km Yankees–East 153rd Street Harlem New Haven Mott Haven Junction 138th Street closed Oak Point Link Harlem River Lift Bridge Zone 2 Zone 1 4.2 mi 6.8 km Harlem–125th Street ​​ 0.0 mi 0 km Park Avenue Tunnel 0.0 mi 0 km 110th Street Park Avenue Tunnel 86th Street 72nd Street 59th Street 0.0 mi 0 km Grand Central Terminal ​​​​​

Metro-North Railroad's Hudson Line is a commuter rail line running north from New York City along the east shore of the Hudson River. Metro-North service ends at Poughkeepsie, with Amtrak's Empire Corridor trains continuing north to and beyond Albany. The line was originally the Hudson River Railroad (and the Spuyten Duyvil and Port Morris Railroad south of Spuyten Duyvil), and later part of the famous Water Level Route of the New York Central Railroad.

The Croton–Harmon station divides the two segments of the line. South of there, it is electrified, with third rail, where it serves suburban stations located more closely together. Most of the electrified zone has four tracks, usually express and local tracks in each direction. For a few miles in the Bronx there are only two or three tracks.

North of Croton–Harmon the line is mostly double-tracked, with a few three-track areas. The diesel trains that run to the more separated stops between Croton–Harmon and Poughkeepsie are generally expresses that skip most of the lower stations. From just north of Spuyten Duyvil to the end of the line, the Hudson Line is shared with Amtrak's various routes up the river.

Since the tracks continue north of Poughkeepsie, there have been various proposals over the years from both the MTA (Metro-North's parent agency) and Amtrak, to extend service northwards. Most have been scratched after strong opposition from residents of northern Dutchess County, who fear the effect on their still largely rural communities that being within an easy rail commute of midtown Manhattan would have. However, Poughkeepsie-area commuters have supported such plans since they would ease pressure on that station. As recently as January 2007, supervisors of some towns north of Poughkeepsie have expressed new interest in extending rail service.

History

The Hudson line was built by the Hudson River Railroad in 1851 as an extension to the Troy and Greenbush Railroad connecting Troy and Albany in the capital region. Cornelius Vanderbilt purchased the Hudson River Railroad in 1864 and merged it in 1869 with other short line railroads that Vanderbilt also owned including the New York and Harlem Railroad (Harlem Line). These two merged railroads were named the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad. It was renamed the New York Central Railroad in 1914.

The New York Central operated many intercity and commuter trains over this line for many years. It was a key route in connecting Grand Central Terminal in New York to LaSalle Street Station in Chicago. Commuter service along the line was offered as far north as Albany Union Station, with 121 trains serving Albany per day during the NYC's peak years.

At the end of the second world war, private rail service began a sharp decline with the start of the Jet Age and the construction of the Interstate Highway System. The New York Central began losing money on almost all commuter and intercity routes. They merged with their former rival the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1968 to form the Pennsylvania New York Central Transportation Company, which was later renamed the Penn Central Transportation Company. The railroad continued to lose money however. Penn Central attempted several maneuvers to delay bankruptcy including auctioning off the air rights of Grand Central Terminal; the Pennsylvania Railroad had done the same thing to their main New York station Penn Station. This however was denied, preserving Grand Central.

In 1971 the National Railroad Passenger Corporation took over all intercity passenger service in the US. Penn Central continued to operate freight and commuter service along the Hudson line until it was folded into Conrail in 1976. Conrail operated commuter service to Albany until it abandoned service north of Poughkeepsie in 1981 (though Amtrak's Empire Service continued to Albany and beyond). In 1983, the MTA Metro-North Railroad took control of all commuter operations in the Hudson Valley.

Since the discontinuation of commuter service to Albany, there have been proposals to restore service further north. Service as far as Hudson station has been proposed. Service to Hyde Park and Rhinecliff has also been proposed. Rhinecliff is already served by Amtrak. There are mixed feelings about extending service, with some supporting it for an easier commute and others disliking it for fear of their mainly small towns becoming an easy commute from Manhattan.

In 2009 a new station was opened at East 153rd Street in the Bronx, near Yankee Stadium. It sees regular service on the Hudson Line, plus special service from the Hudson, Harlem, and New Haven Lines for New York Yankees games.

Line description

Despite its name, the Hudson Line does not reach the river until it has gone 11 miles (18 km) and six stations from Grand Central. Once along the river the view is nearly constant, with it visible much of the way to Poughkeepsie.

Manhattan and the Bronx

Once past 125th Street and over the Harlem River, the Hudson Line departs from the track shared with the Harlem and New Haven Lines, passing first Yankees – East 153rd Street, which offers access to the lower Bronx and Yankee Stadium. After it is the employee-only Highbridge stop as it follows the river northward and, at first, the Major Deegan Expressway.

Marble Hill, technically in Manhattan despite being on the mainland, offers a transfer to the IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line of the New York City Subway at the Marble Hill – 225th Street station. A short curve away brings the trains to Spuyten Duyvil and its stairs to the street. Just past the station, the track rejoins the original Hudson River Railroad, shared with Amtrak, and after one more stop at Riverdale is out of New York City.

The West Side Line (right, un-electrified) joins the Hudson Line just north of Spuyten Duyvil.

Westchester County

Tarrytown station on the Hudson Line

The Palisades present themselves across the river as trains pass through the city of Yonkers and its four stops, mostly local. A few express trains do stop at the recently renovated Yonkers station, the first where a transfer to Amtrak is possible.

Smaller, local-only suburban stations are passed as the Tappan Zee Bridge appears to the north and the river widens. Finally, between Irvington and Tarrytown, it passes overhead. Rockland County fades to almost three miles (4.8 km) away across Haverstraw Bay. But after passing through Sing Sing prison, the train reaches Ossining, where a ferry brings travelers across the wide river.

Electric trains end their runs one stop beyond, at Croton–Harmon, a terminal shared again with Amtrak just south of Harmon Yard and east of Croton Point. The tracks veer inland, closely following US 9, to the next and newest stop, Cortlandt, the only non-New York City station on the line where the Hudson River cannot be seen.

It reappears at Peekskill, the last stop in the county, where the Bear Mountain Bridge can be seen to the north.

Putnam and Dutchess counties

North of Peekskill the river narrows as the Hudson Highlands begin. Dunderberg and Bear mountains can be seen across the river. The train passes through two short tunnels, one under the Bear Mountain Bridge abutment. Putnam County's first station, Manitou, serves a small hamlet. Just north of Garrison, there is another tunnel and then a view of the stone buildings of West Point; the riverside village of Cold Spring is the next stop, last in the county.

The Dutchess County line is crossed in a pair of 842-foot (257 m) tunnels under Breakneck Ridge at Breakneck Point; across the river Storm King Mountain is seen. The Breakneck Ridge flag stop marks the end of the Highlands as the river once again broadens around Newburgh Bay. At Beacon, ferry service is available during peak hours to Newburgh, whose skyline is visible across the river, and shortly after leaving the train passes under the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge.

Just upriver is New Hamburg, a hamlet of the Town of Poughkeepsie and a station closed in the NYCRR days but eventually reopened. The last 8.5 miles to Poughkeepsie's recently renovated station, including the vast Tilcon quarry, is the longest distance between any two stations on a Metro-North main line.

Rolling stock

Electric service from and to Croton–Harmon uses the standard M3A and M7A multiple units also seen on the Metro-North Harlem Line and the Long Island Rail Road, as M3 and M7. Diesel trains are headed by Genesis P32AC-DMs. Turning the locomotives around at either end of the line would be cumbersome and time-consuming, so trains use push-pull operation with the locomotive usually on the north end of the train. They usually pull/push six or seven Shoreliner passenger cars with a cab car at the south end of the train.

The Genesis locomotives are mostly in Metro-North's silver-and-blue colors, but sometimes the red, black and white scheme inherited from the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad can be seen as equipment on the line is pooled with ConnDOT, whose red-striped passenger coaches are also in wide use on the Hudson Line. The Metro-North-owned Genesis units received a new paint scheme in 2007.

Incidents

Main article: December 2013 Spuyten Duyvil derailment

On December 1, 2013, a southbound train derailed near the Spuyten Duyvil station in the Bronx. Four people were killed and more than 60 passengers were injured in the crash. Federal investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board determined that the train was traveling at 82 miles per hour, a speed nearly three times the maximum allowable speed of 30 miles per hour. The train's brakes were apparently operating normally and area tracks in proper condition.

Stations

Milepost Zero on the Hudson Line is at the north property line of 42nd St (i.e. 200–300 ft south of the ends of the tracks). The Marble Hill Cutoff shortened the line by 0.73 mile circa 1906, so Yonkers station (for example) is at milepost 15.24 but is about 14.46 miles from end of track at GCT.

Zone	Station	Miles (km) from GCT	Date opened	Date closed	Connections / notes
1	Grand Central Terminal	0.0 (0.0)	October 6, 1871		Metro-North: Harlem and New Haven lines NYC Subway: ​​​​​ (at Grand Central – 42nd Street) NYCT Bus: M1, M2, M3, M4, M42, M101, M102, M103, Q32, X2, X5, X10, X12, X14, X22, X22A, X27, X28, X31, X37, X38, X42, X63, X64, X68 MTA Bus: BxM1, QM21 Originally Grand Central Depot, then Grand Central Station
	59th Street
	72nd Street
	86th Street		May 15, 1876	c. 1903
	110th Street			c. 1900
	Harlem – 125th Street	4.2 (6.8)	1897		Metro-North: Harlem and New Haven lines NYC Subway: ​​ (at 125th Street) NYCT Bus: M1 (NB), M35, M60 SBS to LGA, M98, M100, M101, Bx15
Manhattan / Bronx border
2
	138th Street		1886	1972
	Harlem / New Haven Lines diverge
	Yankees – East 153rd Street	5.9 (9.5)	May 23, 2009		Metro-North: Harlem and New Haven Lines (game days only) NYC Subway: ​​ (at 161st Street – Yankee Stadium) NYCT Bus: Bx6, Bx13 SeaStreak to Highlands Terminal
	Highbridge	6.7 (10.8)			Metro-North employees only, closed to passengers in the 1970s
	Morris Heights	8.1 (13.0)			NYCT Bus: Bx18, Bx40, Bx42
	University Heights	8.7 (14.0)			NYCT Bus: Bx12, Bx12 SBS
	Fordham Heights				Merged into University Heights station before 1920
	Bronx / Manhattan border
	Marble Hill	9.8 (15.8)	1906		NYC Subway: (at Marble Hill – 225th Street) NYCT Bus: Bx7, Bx9, Bx20 MTA Bus: BxM1
	Manhattan / Bronx border
	Kings Bridge			c. 1905	Removed during 1905-06 realignment of Hudson Branch along the Harlem River Ship Canal
	Spuyten Duyvil	11.1 (17.9)			Hudson Rail Link: J, K, L, M Southbound platform is not accessible
	Riverdale	13.0 (20.9)			Hudson Rail Link: A, B, C, D
	Mt. St. Vincent			1979	Served Mount Saint Vincent University
Bronx / Westchester County border
3	Ludlow	14.3 (23.0)			Bee-Line Bus: 32 Southbound platform is not accessible
	Yonkers	15.1 (24.3)	1911		Amtrak: Adirondack, Empire Service, Ethan Allen Express, Maple Leaf Bee-Line Bus: 6, 9, 25, 32
	Glenwood	16.2 (26.1)			Bee-Line Bus: 1C, 1T, 1W
	Greystone	17.8 (28.6)	1899		Bee-Line Bus: 1C, 1T, 1W Originally Harriman
4	Hastings-on-Hudson	19.5 (31.4)	1840s		Bee-Line Bus: 6, 1C, 1T, 1W
	Dobbs Ferry	20.7 (33.3)			Bee-Line Bus: 1C, 1T, 1W, 6, 66
	Ardsley-on-Hudson	21.7 (34.9)	c. 1900
	Irvington	22.7 (36.5)			Southbound platform is not accessible
5	Tarrytown	25.2 (40.6)			Bee-Line Bus: 1T, 13 Transport of Rockland: Tappan ZEExpress
	Philipse Manor	26.5 (42.6)	1910
	Scarborough	29.5 (47.5)	before 1860
	Ossining	30.8 (49.6)	1848		Bee-Line Bus: 11, 13, 14, 19 NY Waterway: Haverstraw–Ossining Ferry Originally Sing-Sing
	Croton–Harmon	33.2 (53.4)			Amtrak: Adirondack, Empire Service, Ethan Allen Express, Lake Shore Limited, Maple Leaf Bee-Line Bus: 10, 11, 14 Terminus of electrification Originally Harmon
	Croton North		c. 1890 1983	1960s 1984	Revived briefly by Metro-North from 1983 to 1984.
6
	Oscawana
	Crugers				Replaced in 1996 by Cortlandt
	Cortlandt	38.4 (61.8)	April 1996		Bee-Line Bus: 14
	Montrose				Replaced in 1996 by Cortlandt
	Peekskill	41.2 (66.3)	1874		Bee-Line Bus: 16, 18, 31
	Roa Hook
Westchester County / Putnam County border
7	Manitou	46.0 (74.0)			Limited service
	Garrison	49.9 (80.3)
	Cold Spring	52.5 (84.5)			Putnam Transit: Cold Spring Trolley (seasonal)
	Storm King				South side of the Breakneck Ridge Tunnels
	Putnam County / Dutchess County border
	Breakneck Ridge	55.0 (88.5)
8
	Dutchess Junction		c. 1866	1950s	Located south of junction with Newburgh, Dutchess and Connecticut Railroad (eliminated in 1916)
	Beacon	59.0 (95.0)			Dutchess County LOOP: Beacon RailLink Leprechaun Lines: Newburgh-Beacon-Stewart Shuttle NY Waterway: Newburgh-Beacon Ferry
	Chelsea		1901	c. 1970
	New Hamburg	65.0 (104.6)			Dutchess County LOOP: New Hamburg RailLink
9
	Camelot				Now cut off by a mine in Crown Heights
	Poughkeepsie	73.5 (118.3)			Amtrak: Adirondack, Empire Service, Ethan Allen Express, Lake Shore Limited, Maple Leaf Dutchess County LOOP: A, B, C, D, E, Poughkeepsie RailLink City of Poughkeepsie Transit: Main Street, Shoppers' Special Ulster County Area Transit: Ulster-Poughkeepsie LINK Short Line Bus: X32N Trailways of New York: Newburgh-Kingston service
Line continues northward as CSX's Hudson Subdivision Stations north of Poughkeepsie other than existing Amtrak stations were abandoned by Conrail in 1981
	Hyde Park		1914	1981
	Staatsburgh			1981
	Rhinecliff		1914		Now Amtrak's Rhinecliff-Kingston station
	Barrytown			1981
	Tivoli			1981
	Dutchess County / Columbia County border
	Germantown			1981
	Linlithgo			1981
	Greendale			1981
	Hudson		1874		Former junction with Boston and Albany Railroad's Hudson Branch, Still used by Amtrak
	Stockport			1981
	Newton Hook			1981
	Stuyvesant		1880	1981
	Schodack Landing			1981
	Castleton			1981
	Rensselaer			1981	Junction with Boston and Albany Railroad's Main Line
	Columbia County / Albany County border
	Albany		1900	1986	Also served Boston and Albany Railroad, West Shore Railroad, and Delaware and Hudson Railroad
Northern terminus of NYC Hudson Division until 1981.

External links

• world.nycsubway.org – Hudson Line
• Hudson Line Schedules
• Route on OpenStreetMap
• NYC Hudson Division - Troy to Oscawana and Croton North to GCT (Road and Rail Pictures)
• Penn Central Railroad: Hudson, Harlem and other nearby Divisions; April 28, 1968