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The West Side Line, also called the '''West Side Freight Line''', is a Railroad line on the west side of Manhattan, New York , USA . North of Penn Station , at 34th Street , the line is used by Amtrak passenger service heading north via Albany . South of Penn Station, a 1.5 mile (2.4 km) elevated section of the line (popularly known as the High Line ) has been abandoned since 1980 . HISTORY The West Side Line was first built by the Hudson River Railroad , completed to Albany in 1851 . Tracks ran south along the west side of Manhattan from the crossing of Spuyten Duyvil Creek . At 60th Street , just south of a Rail Yard on the Hudson River , the tracks joined Eleventh Avenue . That section of road was popularly known as "Death Avenue" due to large numbers of collisions between rail traffic and cross traffic going to the river docks. Between 33rd Street and 30th Street , the line cut diagonally southeast to Tenth Avenue . Passenger trains continued southeast to the West Side Station , east of Tenth Avenue and south of 30th Street, with a transfer to the Ninth Avenue Elevated (opened ca. 1870 ), while freight trains continued south, merging onto West Street at Little Twelfth Street . Then at Canal Street the line ran southeast for several blocks before turning south again on Hudson Street to the St. John's Park Freight Terminal (opened in 1868 ), now the site of the Holland Tunnel exit. In 1867 the New York Central Railroad and Hudson River Railroad were united by Cornelius Vanderbilt , being merged in 1869 to form the New York Central And Hudson River Railroad . In 1871 the Spuyten Duyvil And Port Morris Railroad opened, and most passenger trains were rerouted into the new Grand Central Depot via that line along the northeast bank of the Harlem River and the New York And Harlem Rail Road , also part of the New York Central system. The old line south of Spuyten Duyvil remained for freight to the docks along Manhattan's west side and minimal passenger service to the West Side Station (used until 1916 ). As the city grew, congestion worsened on the west side. Eventually plans were drawn up for a grade-separated line, along with an elevated West Side Highway . Work on the West Side Improvement began in 1925 , and the first section was dedicated June 28 , 1934 . This included a new elevated eight-track St. John's Park Freight Terminal several blocks north of the old one, with a south edge at Spring Street . From there an elevated structure carried two tracks north on the west side of Washington Street , curving onto the east side of Tenth Avenue at 14th Street , then crossing Tenth Avenue at 17th Street and heading north along its west side. Just south of the Penn Station Rail Yard s, the line turned west on the north side of 30th Street , then north just east of the West Side Highway . The northernmost bridge crossed 34th Street , and a temporary alignment took it back to Eleventh Avenue at 35th Street . The elevated line was built through the second or third floors of several buildings along the route. Others were served directly by elevated sidings. By 1941 the tracks along Eleventh Avenue were bypassed by a below-grade line, passing under the 35th Street intersection and running north just west of Tenth Avenue before slowly curving northwest, passing under Eleventh Avenue at 59th Street , and rejoining the original alignment. North of the new alignment, the Henry Hudson Parkway and Riverside Park were built above the tracks from 72nd Street north to near 123rd Street . The large 72nd Street Yard served as the dividing point between the two-track realignment and a wider four-track line to the north. North of 123rd Street, the line becomes elevated between the Henry Hudson Parkway and Riverside Drive before returning to the surface and crossing under the Parkway to its west side near 159th Street . It continues along the shore of the Hudson River to the Spuyten Duyvil Bridge , a Swing Bridge across the Harlem Ship Canal ( Spuyten Duyvil Creek ), merging with the Spuyten Duyvil And Port Morris Railroad just north of the bridge. In addition to serving the industrial and dock areas of the Lower West Side , the line was the primary route for Fruit , Vegetables and Meat for the city, as well as serving the James Farley Post Office and private parcel freight businesses. The New York Central Railroad was merged into Penn Central in 1968 and Conrail in 1976 . Conrail continued to operate freight along the West Side Line until the 1980s . The 72nd Street Yard was sold for a housing development. The northern part of the line was later acquired by Amtrak. The southernmost part of the High Line has since been demolished; as of mid-2005, the rest of the High Line is owned by CSX , which acquired it after the 1998 breakup of Conrail. EMPIRE CONNECTION When new storage yards for the Long Island Rail Road were constructed on the west side of Manhattan in the 1980s , the project design included a tunnel and switching connections leading to the West Side Line right of way just west of Tenth Avenue. Later, when additional funding became available, one track along the northern part of the West Side Line was rehabilitated for passenger service as the Empire Connection. A short section of track leading into Penn Station was Electrified using Third Rail , since Diesel Locomotive s are not allowed to operate in the station tunnel, and a Wye was constructed to allow locomotives to turn around. On April 7 , 1991 , all Amtrak trains via Albany started using the new Empire Connection into Penn Station. Prior to that change, all passenger trains from Albany and beyond went into Grand Central Terminal (as Metro-North still does), which forced passengers going beyond New York to transfer via shuttle Bus , Taxi or the New York City Subway to reach Penn Station. The move also saved Amtrak the expense of operating two stations in New York. The Empire Connection was double tracked in the 1990s . The layout is such that trains running between Albany and points south would have to reverse direction or turn at Sunnyside Yard . An engine change would be required in any case. Thus all services using the connection terminate at Penn Station, though at the time of building there were proposals for through service onto the Long Island Rail Road . For a time the '' Adirondack '' from Montreal ran through New York to Washington, DC . Metro-North is studying ways it could also serve Penn Station. One alternative under study would run some Hudson Line commuter trains into Penn Station via the Empire Connection, possibly with new station stops at West 125th and West 62nd Streets. HIGH LINE (15th Street and 10th Avenue) which connects to an adjacent building.]] See Also: High Line There are plans to restore the elevated structure known as the High Line and reclaim the area as a public open space (or Greenway ). These plans have been given support from the City of New York, community and design organizations, primarily through the efforts of a non-profit organization called Friends of the High Line. EXTERNAL LINKS
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