East River Tunnels

East River Tunnels
Overview
Construction of the East River Tunnels, 1909.
Line	Northeast Corridor and Long Island Rail Road
Location	East River between Manhattan and Queens in New York City
Operation
Constructed	1904-1909
Opened	September 8, 1910
Owner	Amtrak
Traffic	Rail
Character	Passenger
Technical
Design engineer	Alfred Noble
Length	3,949 feet (1,204 m)
Width	23 feet (7.0 m)
East River Tunnels

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The East River Tunnels are 4 single-track railroad tunnels that extend from the eastern end of Pennsylvania Station under 32nd and 33rd Streets in Manhattan and cross the East River to Long Island City in Queens. The tracks carry Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) and Amtrak trains travelling to and from Penn Station and points to the north and east. The tracks also carry New Jersey Transit trains deadheading to Sunnyside Yard. They are part of Amtrak's Northeast Corridor, so trains traveling between New York City and New England use the tunnels on their way to and from the Hell Gate Bridge.

The tunnels were built in the first decade of the 20th century as part of the Pennsylvania Tunnel and Terminal Railroad, providing a connection between the Pennsylvania Railroad's train station in New York City, Pennsylvania Station, and the railroad's Sunnyside Yard. The tunnels opened in 1910. At that time the LIRR was a subsidiary of the Pennsylvania Railroad, and the tunnels allowed the LIRR its first of two direct accesses to Manhattan, the future East Side Access being the second.

The construction contract was awarded to S. Pearson and Son. The project was led by Chief Engineer Alfred Noble. Work began in 1904 and was completed by 1909. The four tunnels were built simultaneously, digging east from Penn Station, west from Long Island City, and east and west from shafts just east of First Avenue; they opened along with Pennsylvania Station in 1910. (Until 1910, LIRR trains ran to Long Island City, where passengers took ferries across the East River to the 34th Street Ferry Terminal in Manhattan.)

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