The was an important part of the
Pennsylvania Railroad system, comprising the tunnels and approaches from
New Jersey and
Long Island to
New York Penn Station . The
North River Tunnels pass under the
Hudson River and the
East River Tunnels pass under the
East River . The Long Island side was used mainly by the
Long Island Rail Road , a PRR subsidiary. Many other railroads had
Trackage Rights over one half or the other.
The PRR merged into
Penn Central Transportation in 1968, and all the property of the PT&T was conveyed to
Amtrak on
April 1 ,
1976 when
Conrail 's system was formed. It is now part of Amtrak's
Northeast Corridor ;
New Jersey Transit and the
Long Island Rail Road use their respective halves to reach
New York Penn Station .
Before the tunnel opened in
1910 , PRR passengers had to transfer to the
Hudson And Manhattan Railroad or a ferry to cross the
Hudson River , and LIRR passengers had to take a subway line or ferry across the
East River .
On the New Jersey side, the railroad merged with the main line of the
United New Jersey Railroad And Canal Company , the PRR's main line through New Jersey, at
Kearny Junction . On the Long Island side, the railroad ended at
Sunnyside Yard , with connections to the
Long Island Rail Road and
New York Connecting Railroad .
Originally, an
Engine Change was made at
Manhattan Transfer , since the line wasn't
Electrified all the way to Philadelphia, but only electric trains could operate through the tunnels.
One branch of the line existed, the Harrison Branch, splitting west off the line just east of its west end, and running west to a connection with the
Delaware, Lackawanna And Western Railroad 's
Harrison Cut-off and the
Erie Railroad 's
Paterson And Newark Branch . This branch was used only for freight.
The following non-PRR railroads used the line:
The company was formed on
June 26 ,
1907 as a consolidation of the and the '''Pennsylvania, New York and Long Island Railroad''', which 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 .
The New Jersey side was opened on
November 27 ,
1910 , though it hadn't been completed yet. The Long Island side was opened several weeks earlier. It was always operated by the PRR.
