Park Avenue main line

Park Avenue main line
Looking south into the Park Avenue Tunnel
Looking south into the Park Avenue Tunnel
Overview
StatusOperational
OwnerMetro-North Railroad
LocaleNew York City
Termini
Connecting linesHarlem Line, Hudson Line, New Haven Line
Stations2
Service
TypeCommuter rail
SystemMetro-North Railroad
Operator(s)Metro-North Railroad
History
Commenced1831 (1831) (street railway)
Completed1875 (1875) (Yorkville Tunnel)
Technical
Number of tracks4
CharacterTunnel, elevated
Track gauge4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Operating speed45 mph (72 km/h)
Route map

Mott Haven Junction
138th Street (closed)
Zone 2
Zone 1
4.2 mi
6.8 km
Harlem–125th Street "4" train"5" train"6" train"6" express train
110th Street (closed)
Park Avenue Tunnel
86th Street (closed)
72nd Street (closed)
59th Street (unused)
0.0 mi
0 km
Grand Central
"4" train"5" train"6" train"6" express train"7" train"7" express train​​42nd Street Shuttle

The Park Avenue main line, which consists of the Park Avenue Tunnel and the Park Avenue Viaduct, is a railroad line in the New York City borough of Manhattan, running entirely along Park Avenue. The line carries four tracks of the Metro-North Railroad as a tunnel from Grand Central Terminal at 42nd Street to a portal at 97th Street, where it rises to a viaduct north of 99th Street and continues over the Harlem River into the Bronx over the Park Avenue Bridge. During rush hours, Metro-North uses three of the four tracks in the peak direction.[1]

Originally constructed in the mid-19th century as a New York and Harlem Railroad route, the Park Avenue main line was initially a street railroad and ran to what is now Lower Manhattan. It was gradually truncated through the 1860s, until Grand Central Depot was opened at 42nd Street in 1871. The line was placed in a grade-separated structure in the late 19th century, as part of the Fourth Avenue and Park Avenue Improvement projects, and was electrified in the first decade of the 20th century as part of the construction of Grand Central Terminal. Since then, several improvement and rehabilitation projects have been made along the main line.

  1. ^ Parkinson, Tom; Fisher, Ian (1996). Rail Transit Capacity. Transportation Research Board. p. 98. ISBN 9780309057189. Archived from the original on March 27, 2019. Retrieved January 20, 2019.