Queensboro Bridge Trolley Shuttle
| Queensboro Bridge Shuttle | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Gauge : | 1435 mm ( standard gauge ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Queensboro Bridge Trolley Shuttle was the last tram route in New York City . It existed from 1909 to 1957 and connected 2nd Av / 59th St / 60th St with the Queensboro Plaza subway station .
history
After the Queensboro Bridge was opened on March 30, 1909, the city laid tracks on the bridge and began operating the shuttle on its own on September 19 of that year, which ended in an underground turning loop on the Manhattan side, but also one Had a track connection to the tram network. From November 21, 1909 to December 28, 1912, the railway was then operated by the South Shore Traction Company , who planned to build a continuous connection from Manhattan to Suffolk County on east Long Island . Then the Manhattan and Queens Traction Corporation took over the operation of the shuttle, and in 1913 extended the route over Queens Boulevard to Jamaica. However, this section of the route was closed in 1937 after the opening of the subway (today lines E and F).
The following lines of other companies, in particular the New York and Queens County Railway and the Third Avenue Railway, also ran on the bridge:
- Astoria (1910-1939)
- Flushing and Corona Point (1910-1925)
- Corona (1910-1925)
- Steinway (1910-1939)
- 42nd Street Crosstown (1910-1950)
The reason that the shuttle was still around (the remaining lines were shut down until around 1945) is a curious one: Since the stop at Welfare Island was the only access to the island (with the exception of the ship route), the shuttle was up to two years operated after the opening of the new Roosevelt Island Bridge . It was then shut down due to falling passenger numbers. In the 1970s, however, it became apparent that a direct connection to Manhattan was also relevant. Now, however, the tracks were already removed and the Roosevelt Island Tramway was built. Later a station on the subway line F was built.