The Staten Island Railway (SIR) is a rapid transit line in the New York City borough of Staten Island. It is owned by the Staten Island Rapid Transit Operating Authority (SIRTOA), a subsidiary of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and operated by the New York City Transit Authority Department of Subways. SIR operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, providing local service between St. George and Tottenville, along the east side of the island. There is currently only one line on the island, and there is no direct rail link between the SIR and the New York City Subway system, but SIR riders do receive a free transfer to New York City Transit bus and subway lines, and the line is included on official New York City Subway maps. Commuters on the railway typically use the Staten Island Ferry to reach Manhattan. The line is accessible from within the Ferry Terminal, and most of its trains are timed to connect with the ferry. In 2024, the system had a ridership of 4,743,000, or about 19,300 per weekday as of the second quarter of 2025. The line has a route bullet similar to subway routes: the letters SIR in a blue circle. It is used on timetables, the MTA website, some signage, and on R211S trains, but not on R44 trains. Like the New York City Subway, the line runs 24 hours a day every day of the year, and is one of the few 24/7 mass-transit rail systems in the United States. Fares are only collected at two stations, St. George and nearby Tompkinsville. Although the railway was originally considered a standard rail line, the existing line is severed from the national rail system, and only a small portion of the former North Shore Branch still sees freight use. The passenger operations are now regulated as a rapid transit system, and exempt from certain regulations. The line uses modified R44 and R211A and R211S subway cars, the latter of which will replace the R44s throughout the rest of 2025. History The Staten Island Rail Road was incorporated after residents of Perth Amboy and Staten Island requested a rail line between Tottenville and Stapleton. Funding came from Cornelius Vanderbilt, who operated the only ferry service between Staten Island and Manhattan's East Shore. This marked his first involvement with a railroad. The line eventually extended to Tottenville. Under the direction of Vanderbilt's brother, Jacob H. Vanderbilt, the company absorbed several independent ferry operators. The railway and ferry services were initially profitable until the explosion of the ferry Westfield at the Whitehall Street Terminal. Soon after, the railroad and ferry went into receivership and were sold at foreclosure to George Law. The company was later transferred to the Staten Island Railway Company. By the start of the next decade, the railway was in decline, prompting a lawsuit from New York State to dissolve it. Erastus Wiman, a leading figure on the island, founded the Staten Island Rapid Transit Company and partnered with the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad to construct a major rail terminal and consolidate multiple ferry landings. He extended a land deal with George Law by agreeing to name the location "St. George" in his honor. Construction of the portion of the North Shore Branch between Vanderbilt's Landing and Tompkinsville began in the spring of that year and opened for passenger service later that summer. A lighthouse above Tompkinsville initially blocked further extension to St. George, but after lobbying efforts, a two-track tunnel was built beneath it. Around the same time, the Staten Island Rail was leased to a major railroad company for nearly a century. Lease proceeds funded various projects, including completing the terminal at St. George, acquiring waterfront property, finishing rapid transit lines, constructing a bridge over the Kill Van Kull, and developing additional terminal infrastructure. The North Shore Branch soon extended to Elm Park, and the St. George terminal opened shortly after, connecting all Staten Island Rail lines to it. By that summer, the remainder of the North Shore Branch reached Erastina. A few years later, a new branch to South Beach opened for passengers, initially to Arrochar and later extended to a terminal at South Beach. These newer lines came to be known as the Staten Island Rapid Transit Railway, while the original route between Clifton and Tottenville remained the Staten Island Railway. Congress authorized the construction of a swing bridge over the Arthur Kill after extended advocacy. The bridge was completed slightly ahead of schedule and became the world’s largest drawbridge at the time, with no recorded fatalities during its construction. Soon after, work began on a short connecting rail line from Arthur Kill to Cranford, which was completed within the year. The first train between St. George and Cranford ran at the start of the following year. Despite some opposition from other railroad companies, who claimed the bridge design hindered navigation for coal barges, no changes were made. Before the century's end, the terminal at St. George, serving both trains and ferries to Manhattan, was completed. 20th Century After a major railroad company took control of the previous leaseholder around the turn of the century, improvements were made to the Staten Island Rapid Transit, and the system began turning a profit again. A few years later, New York City assumed control of the ferry system and its terminals, removing the railroad company from the downtown Manhattan terminal. The city then built a new terminal at St. George at significant cost. Plans were developed for a tunnel beneath the Narrows to connect Staten Island to Brooklyn and link with the city's subway system. In preparation, the Staten Island lines were electrified using third rail power and subway-style cars. The first electric trains began service in the late spring on the South Beach Branch, with the rest of the system electrified by that fall. However, electrification did not significantly boost ridership, and the tunnel connection was never realized. During that decade, a freight line was constructed along the island’s western shore to move materials for the construction of a major bridge. After the bridge was completed, the line was shortened. Later, a petroleum company opened facilities along the Arthur Kill, prompting the construction of a branch line from Arlington Yard into the marshlands to reach the new site. A major infrastructure upgrade occurred with the completion of a long viaduct in the Port Richmond–Tower Hill area, designed to eliminate street-level rail crossings. This structure, the largest of its kind in the country at the time, eliminated multiple crossings along the North Shore Branch and was the final phase of a broader effort that removed dozens of dangerous crossings throughout the island. During the war years, freight operations and military-related traffic helped reduce the Staten Island Rapid Transit's outstanding debt, making the line briefly profitable in that period. The system played a key logistical role in the war effort, handling all East Coast military hospital trains. Some of these trains stopped at Arlington station to offload wounded soldiers bound for a large military hospital nearby. The rail corridor between Cranford Junction and Arthur Kill saw intense use, with traffic including war materials, prisoner-of-war transports, troop movements, and even special trains for prominent figures such as Winston Churchill. A major setback occurred when a fire broke out at the St. George Terminal. The incident resulted in several fatalities and injuries, and caused extensive damage, destroying both the ferry and train terminals. Service disruptions lasted for weeks, with only limited operations restored in the interim. Plans for a temporary terminal were initiated shortly after, and within a few years, a fully integrated terminal combining ferry, rail, and bus service was opened. This new facility replaced what had been lost and was gradually brought into operation in phases. Ridership on the Staten Island Rapid Transit dropped sharply as passengers switched to city-run buses after a fare reduction, declining from over twelve million to less than half that in just a couple of years. In response, nearly half of the weekday trains were cut, late-night service was canceled, and about a third of employees were laid off. After public backlash, service levels were slightly increased. The Interstate Commerce Commission approved the railroad’s request to abandon its long-operated ferry service between Tottenville and Perth Amboy, which was then taken over by a private ferry company. Passenger service on both the North Shore and South Beach branches ended in the early 1950s due to bus competition; the South Beach line was soon abandoned, though freight continued on the North Shore branch. The railroad sought to end passenger service on the Tottenville branch as well, but a significant city subsidy allowed it to continue. In the mid-1950s, the aging Arthur Kill swing bridge was replaced by a modern vertical-lift bridge, which opened in the late 1950s. This new bridge, capable of lifting to aid marine navigation, was largely funded by the federal government. Around the same time, the Travis Branch was extended to serve a new power plant, enabling coal shipments from West Virginia. In the early 1970s, operation of the Tottenville line was transferred to a state transportation authority affiliated with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, with the city purchasing the line. Freight operations remained with the original railroad under contract. The line saw modernization efforts including the introduction of newer subway cars to replace decades-old equipment, platform extensions at several stations, and a station renovation program that began in the mid-1980s alongside a major overhaul of the newer trains. The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad became part of the larger Chessie System through a merger with the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway, and the island’s freight operations were renamed the Staten Island Railroad Corporation in the early 1970s. With the creation of Conrail in the mid-1970s, the B&O and C&O became isolated from their other lines in New Jersey and Staten Island, with their freight services ending in Philadelphia. Despite this, B&O locomotives and a daily freight train continued running to Cranford Junction for several years. The car float yard previously operated by the Jersey Central was closed in the early 1970s but was briefly revived at Saint George Yard before being taken over by the New York Dock Railway and eventually ending in 1980. By this time, only a few isolated industries on Staten Island still used rail freight, and the Saint George yard was largely abandoned. Due to declining freight traffic, the Chessie System sold the Staten Island Railway to the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway, a subsidiary of Delaware Otsego, in the mid-1980s. The new operator managed the remaining freight operations, serving a small number of customers and hoping to attract more business. Freight service east of Elm Park on the North Shore Branch was embargoed in the late 1980s, ending all freight to Saint George. The closure of Procter & Gamble, the line’s largest customer, in 1990 further reduced freight traffic. The Arthur Kill Bridge was taken out of service in 1991, and the last freight train ran in 1992. The North Shore Branch and bridge then passed to CSX Transportation, which sold them to the New York City Economic Development Corporation in the mid-1990s, leading to years of stalled plans. In the early 1990s, the Staten Island Rapid Transit was transferred from the city’s Surface Transit Division to its Department of Rapid Transit. Accessibility improvements were made, including making Dongan Hills station compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. MetroCards began to be accepted at St. George station in the mid-1990s, which also saw the restoration of the line’s original name as the MTA Staten Island Railway. In the late 1990s, fares were eliminated between Tompkinsville and Tottenville, which led to concerns about increased ridership and crime along the line. Fare collection at St. George shifted from on-board conductors to station entry and exit. Around this time, express trains were added to improve service during afternoon hours. A small section of the North Shore Branch was reopened for passenger service to a minor-league baseball stadium in the early 2000s but was discontinued after about a decade. A new station building at Tompkinsville was opened in 2010, featuring turnstiles to prevent free exits at that station, encouraging passengers to use the nearby St. George ferry terminal instead. Route Map List of Stations Richmond County Bank Ballpark (Disused) St George Tompkinsville Stapleton Clifton Grasmere Old Town Dongan Hills Jefferson Avenue Grant City New Dorp Oakwood Heights Bay Terrace Great Kills Eltingville Annadale Huguenot Princes Bay Pleasant Plains Richmond Valley Nassau Arthur Kill Atlantic Tottenville Rolling Stock NYC R211S NYC R211A NYC R44 (Separate add-on)
Overview Owner: Staten Island Rapid Transit Operating Authority (SIRTOA), a subsidiary of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Locale: Staten Island, New York City Transit type: Rapid transit Number of lines: 1 Number of stations: 21 Daily ridership: 19,300 (weekdays, Q2 2025) Annual ridership: 4,743,000 Operation Began operation: February 1, 1860; 165 years ago Operator(s): New York City Transit Authority, Department of Subways Number of vehicles: R44 (49 cars) R211S (75 cars) Technical System length: 14 mi (22.5 km) Track gauge: 4 ft 8½ in (1,435 mm) standard gauge Electrification: Third rail, 600 V DC Top speed: 45 mph (72 km/h)
While a good suggestion, very much an A to B and back again route. We also don’t know whether this would still fall within MTA’s refusal to allow DTG access to Subway equipment to research and replicate in a similar.
No but from what has been said previously it’s still under the oversight of MTA and uses identical trains and equipment safety systems etc. as the main Subway, so likely the same constraints apply.
yeah and pretty much any suggestion on how to connect it to the NY subway network ended up... in trash... cos of money or sth, dunno... so they have to use ferry to get to the rest of NY
