40°44′59″N73°55′37.37″W / 40.74972°N 73.9270472°W /40.74972; -73.9270472
Sunnyside Yard is a largecoach yard, arailroad yard forpassenger cars in theSunnyside neighborhood ofQueens inNew York City. The yard is owned byAmtrak and is also used byNew Jersey Transit. ThePennsylvania Railroad (PRR) completed construction of the yard in 1910; it was originally the largest coach yard in the world, occupying 192 acres (0.78 km2).
Harold Interlocking, the United States' busiestrail junction, is part of the yard. The shared tracks of theLong Island Rail Road (LIRR)Main Line and Amtrak'sNortheast Corridor pass along the southern edge of the yard. Northeast of the yard aballoon track (or reverse loop) is used for "U-turning" Amtrak and NJ Transit trains which terminate at Penn Station. Leading eastward near the south side of the yard, this balloon track switches off and turns left under the LIRR/Amtrak tracks, turns left once again, and merges with the Sunnyside Yard track to turn the train west toward Penn Station.
ThePennsylvania Railroad (PRR) completed construction of the yard in 1910.[1]: 93 At that time, Sunnyside was the largest coach yard in the world, occupying 192 acres (0.78 km2) and containing 25.7 miles (41.4 km) oftrack.[1]: 76 The yard served as the maintrain storage and service point for PRR trains serving New York City. It is connected toPennsylvania Station inMidtown Manhattan by theEast River Tunnels. The Sunnyside North Yard initially had 45 tracks with a capacity of 526 cars. The South Yard had 45 tracks with a 552 car capacity.[1]: 93
Factories surrounded Sunnyside Yard. On the south side the Degnon Terminal rose, with businesses served by the railroad. It included theAmerican Chicle company factory for chewing gum, theEveready Battery Company factory for batteries, and the Loose-WilesSunshine Biscuits factory.[2] TheSwingline Stapler factory was immediately east of there, at 32-01 Queens Boulevard.
As part of the East Side Access project to thenew LIRR terminal atGrand Central Terminal (opened January 25, 2023), some LIRR trains diverge from themain line and travel througha tunnel under the yard. The project would also create a new station at Queens Boulevard, namedSunnyside.
In May 2011, a $294.7 million federal grant was awarded to address congestion at Harold Interlocking, the United States' busiestrail junction, which is part of the yard. The work will allow for dedicated tracks to theHell Gate Lineright of way for Amtrak trains arriving from or bound forNew England, thus avoiding NJT and LIRR traffic.[3][4] Some of the interlocking improvement projects are complete as of early 2023. Other projects are ongoing and will be complete by late 2025.[5]
In 2017 it was announced that the city would begin a feasibility study into the construction of 21,000 to 31,000 units of housing on top of the rail yard. The project, which would be similar to theHudson Yards development overWest Side Yard, has stoked public controversy over the affordability of units, pedestrian and road connections, open space, and a nearbySuperfund site.[6][7] In September 2019, a public meeting was interrupted by protestors chanting, "We Don't Trust this Process!"[8] In early 2020, Amtrak and the city government published a master plan. The plan called for building a deck over Sunnyside Yard and constructing 12,000 housing units, all of which would beaffordable housing, as well as 60 acres (24 ha) of parks and public plazas.[9][10]
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