MTA studies plan to resurrect passenger trains between Bay Ridge and Queens
The MTA says it will begin studying a plan to bring passenger trains back to the Bay Ridge Branch, a stretch of Long Island Railroad-owned, above-ground tracks between Bay Ridge and Queens that’s been moving only freight for the past 95 years.
The branch runs from Fresh Pond Yards in Ridgewood, through East New York, Flatbush, Midwood and Bensonhurst, then ends in Bay Ridge. The line carried passengers from its opening in 1876 until 1924.
If the branch were to reopen to commuters, it would be the first step toward realizing the larger Triboro RX plan, a 24-mile rail line first proposed in 1996 by urban research nonprofit the Regional Plan Association. The Triboro would loop around the city through a patchwork of existing rail, which passenger trains would share with freight trains.