As the tunnel extension lies partly in the State of New Jersey and
partly in the State of New York, it was necessary to charter two
companies, each covering the territory within the State to which it
belonged. The New Jersey corporation was entitled the Pennsylvania, New
Jersey and New York Railroad Company, and the New York corporation, the
Pennsylvania, New York and Long Island Railroad Company. These
organizations were completed early in 1902. Subsequently, after the
tunnels had been joined under the North River, the companies were
consolidated, on June 26th, 1907, and thereby formed the present company
under the name of the Pennsylvania Tunnel and Terminal Railroad Company,
a corporation of both States.
Mr. Cassatt, President of the Pennsylvania, New York and Long Island
Railroad Company, made application in its behalf for a franchise to
extend the lines of the Pennsylvania Railroad by tunnels under the North
River to a passenger station to be erected in New York City and thence
under the East River to a connection with the Long Island Railroad, on
May 5th, 1902.
The franchise for that part of the tunnel line which is within the State
of New York, that is, from the boundary line between New York and New
Jersey, in the Hudson River, to the eastern terminus at Sunnyside Yard,
Long Island, is contained in the certificate issued by the Board of
Rapid Transit Railroad Commissioners of the City of New York on October
9th, 1902.
The essential features of the franchise have been summarized
substantially as follows in the report of the Committee of the Board of
Rapid Transit Railroad Commissioners of the City of New York, dated June
14th, 1902:
_First._--A grant by the city in perpetuity of rights, subject, however,
to a periodic readjustment of payments at intervals of twenty-five
years, as follows:
(_a_) To construct and operate a railroad of two tracks from the
boundary between New York and New Jersey under the Hudson River
opposite the westerly foot of Thirty-first Street, Borough of
Manhattan, thence running under the Hudson River and Thirty-first
Street to the East River and under the East River to a terminus in
Queens Borough. The Company is permitted on notice within ten years
to give up the right to these two tracks.
(_b_) A like right for a railroad of two tracks beginning near the
same point under the Hudson River, thence running under
Thirty-second Street to the East River, and under that river to the
terminus in Queens Borough, with a right for two additional tracks
in Thirty-second Street, west of Ninth Avenue, and one additional
track between Seventh and Fifth Avenues in Manhattan.
(_c_) A like right for a railroad of two tracks beginning at the
station terminal site at Thirty-third Street and Seventh Avenue and
thence running under Thirty-third Street and the East River to the
terminal in Queens Borough, with a right for one additional track
on Thirty-third Street, between Seventh and Fifth Avenues.
(_d_) A right to maintain a terminal station occupying the four
blocks bounded by Thirty-first Street, Seventh Avenue, Thirty-third
Street and Ninth Avenue, the lots on the east side of Seventh
Avenue between Thirty-first and Thirty-third Streets, and the
underground portions of Thirty-first and Thirty-third Streets,
between Seventh and Eighth Avenues and between Eighth and Ninth
Avenues, the Company having itself acquired the land included in
such four blocks and lots on the east side of Seventh Avenue.
(_e_) To occupy for such terminal facilities all of Thirty-second
Street lying between the westerly side of Seventh Avenue and the
easterly side of Eighth Avenue, and between the westerly side of
Eighth Avenue and the easterly side of Ninth Avenue. As soon as the
statutory right of the city authorities to make the conveyance
shall be put beyond doubt the Railroad Company is obliged to buy
such two portions of Thirty-second Street, which will then become
completely dedicated to the purposes of their station. (These
portions of Thirty-second Street were subsequently purchased by the
Railroad Company.)
(_f_) To have along such routes the necessary facilities for the
operation of passenger and freight trains, including telegraph
wires and the various wires and cables for the distribution of
power, heat, and light.
_Second._--The requirement of the consent of the Mayor, the Board of
Aldermen, the Board of Estimate and Apportionment, and the other
authorities of the city having control of the streets.
_Third._--The obligation of the Pennsylvania Company to begin
construction within three months after obtaining the necessary consents
and complete the railroad within five years after construction shall
begin, except the route under Thirty-first Street, for the completion of
which the company is allowed ten years after the completion of the
remainder of the railroad.
_Fourth._--Payments by the Pennsylvania Company for the first
twenty-five years, as follows: A rental of $200 per annum for the right
to occupy land under the Hudson and East Rivers outside of pier lines. A
rental for ground within pier lines and for underground portions of
streets in Manhattan Borough, at fifty cents per linear foot of single
track per annum, for the first ten years, and during the next fifteen
years one dollar per annum per linear foot. A rental for ground within
pier lines and for underground portions of streets in Queens Borough at
one-half the rates payable for Manhattan Borough. A rental for
underground portions of Thirty-first and Thirty-third Streets, between
Seventh and Eighth Avenues, and between Eighth and Ninth Avenues (such
portions extending almost up to the surface, except under the south
sidewalk of Thirty-first Street and north sidewalk of Thirty-third
Street) at $14,000 per annum for the first ten years, and at $28,000 per
annum for the next fifteen years.
For the portions of Thirty-second Street, between Seventh and Eighth
Avenues, and between Eighth and Ninth Avenues, when the statutory power
of the city to make a sale shall be put beyond doubt, the city is to
sell and the Railroad Company is required to buy such portions for the
sum of $788,600. The rentals for river and track rights begin at the
date of operation. For the underground spaces under Thirty-first and
Thirty-third Streets, used for station extension, the rentals begin at
the commencement of construction, or when the company entered thereon.
Such annual payments may be summarized as follows:
+===============================================+=========================+
| | First 10 | Next 15 |
| | years. | years. |
|-----------------------------------------------+------------+------------+
|For river rights | $200.00 | $200.00 |
|For tunnel rights in Manhattan Borough, being | | |
| 44,341 ft. (partly estimated) of single track | 22,170.00 | 44,341.00 |
|For tunnel rights in Queens Borough, being | | |
| 8,100 ft. (partly estimated) of single track | 2,025.00 | 4,050.00 |
|For street rights on Thirty-first and | | |
| Thirty-third Streets, north and south of | | |
| terminal | 14,000.00 | 28,000.00 |
+-----------------------------------------------+------------+------------+
| In all, per annum | $38,395.00 | $76,591.00 |
+===============================================+============+============+
If the route under Thirty-first Street be availed of, these amounts will
be increased by $16,652.50 for the first ten years, and by $33,305 for
the next fifteen years.
The amounts to be paid are to be readjusted at the end of twenty-five
years; and thereafter at intervals of twenty-five years. If the city and
the Railroad Company shall not agree upon the readjusted rates, they are
to be determined by the Supreme Court of this State.
_Fifth._--The railroad to be entirely in tunnel except where it
approaches the surface at its eastern terminal near Thomson Avenue, in
Queens Borough. The uppermost part of the tunnel is to be at least
nineteen feet below the surface of the street; but this limitation does
not apply to the portions of Thirty-first and Thirty-third Streets
opposite the terminal station between Seventh and Ninth Avenues, where
the Company may occupy the underground portions of the street under the
roadway to within thirty inches of the surface, and under the sidewalks
on Thirty-first and Thirty-third Streets opposite to the station to
within five feet of the surface, the company to properly care for
sewers, water, gas and other pipes and underground structures lawfully
in the street.
_Sixth._--The company to make good all damage done to property of the
city by its construction work or operations, and to abutting owners all
damage done through any fault or negligence of the company, or of any
contractor or sub-contractor engaged upon its work of construction or
operation. The Tunnel Company to keep Thirty-first and Thirty-third
Streets opposite the station well paved with smooth pavement and in
thoroughly good condition.
_Seventh._--Tunnel excavations to be done without disturbing the surface
of the street, except in the portions of Thirty-first and Thirty-third
Streets, and Seventh, Eighth and Ninth Avenues in front of the terminal
station, and except in Queens Borough, with the power to the Rapid
Transit Board, wherever conditions elsewhere make surface excavation
necessary for efficient construction, to grant the right for such
excavation, subject to conditions to be then prescribed by the Board.
The tracks are to be constructed of the most approved plan so as to
avoid noise or tremor. All plans for, and the method of doing, the work
are made subject to the approval of the Rapid Transit Board.
_Eighth._--The motive power to be electricity, or such other power not
involving combustion as may be approved by the Board.
_Ninth._--The company to have no power to carry on merely local traffic,
except with the approval of the Board and for additional consideration
to be paid the city. Traffic is defined as local which begins and ends
in the city within five miles of the terminal station on Seventh and
Ninth Avenues.
_Tenth._--The railroad to be diligently and skillfully operated, with
due regard to the convenience of the traveling public.
_Eleventh._--The city to have a lien upon the franchise and real
property of the company to secure the payment of rental.
_Twelfth._--The rights of the city to be enforceable by action, for
specific performance, or mandamus, or otherwise.
_Thirteenth._--The company not to oppose the construction of any rapid
transit railroad along or across the same routes which do not actually
interfere with the authorized structures of the company.
_Fourteenth._--The city to have an ample right of inspection of the
railroad, and to enter upon it for examination, supervision, or care of
city property, or for other purposes.
_Fifteenth._--The company to be bound to maintain and strengthen all
parts of its railways under streets or avenues so that the same shall
support safely any structures superimposed or which may hereafter be
superimposed thereon by the city or under public authority.
_Sixteenth._--The company to have the right to convey or mortgage the
franchise, but every grantee, whether directly or under a mortgage, to
assume the obligations already assumed by the Railroad Company and the
Railroad Company not to be relieved of such obligations by the grant.
This franchise was passed by the Board of Aldermen on December 16th and
approved by the Mayor on December 23d, 1902.
Subsequently, an agreement, dated June 21st, 1907, was entered into by
the City of New York, the Tunnel Company, and the Long Island Railroad
Company covering the construction of the Sunnyside Yard, which forms the
eastern terminus of the line.
In pursuance of this agreement, the map or plan of the City of New York
was changed by discontinuing or closing portions of fifty streets or
avenues, and by changing the grades of sixteen streets or avenues, in
the Borough of Queens, and the portions of streets and avenues thus
discontinued and closed, most of which were not opened for public use,
were sold to the Railroad Companies. The agreement, however, reserved to
the City permanent and perpetual underground rights and easements to
maintain in a reasonable manner, not inconsistent with the construction
and operation of the railroad facilities of the Companies, its existing
sewers, drains, and other sub-surface structures in, under, and through
the lands within the lines of the discontinued portions of each of such
streets and avenues, including the right to repair, rebuild, and enlarge
the same, and to construct in a reasonable manner, not inconsistent with
the construction and operation of the railroad facilities of the
Companies, such additional sewers or drains in, under, or through the
lands as may be hereafter required by the City, together with the right
to enter upon the premises from time to time as may be necessary for the
purpose of inspecting, repairing, constructing, or rebuilding the
sub-surface structures.
The agreement required the Companies to construct at their expense, four
viaducts or bridges over their tracks and terminal development, three
with roadways 42 ft. wide, one with a roadway 60 ft. wide, and each to
have two sidewalks 10 ft. wide, the work to include the paving of the
roadways and sidewalks.
The Companies are further required to pay one-half the cost of the
construction of the foundations, abutments, piers, superstructures, and
approach of an additional viaduct or bridge over the Sunnyside Yard, to
have a roadway not more than 60 ft. wide and two sidewalks each 10 ft.
wide, and to grant the City of New York a perpetual easement for the
continuance of the same in the location upon which it shall be
constructed.
The agreement further provides that the Companies shall not injure the
sewers or other substructures now existing or hereafter constructed
under the streets and avenues, and, in case of injury, that they shall
repair them or pay the cost thereof; that the viaducts shall be
completed within the shortest time consistent with their safe and proper
construction, and that during their construction temporary streets shall
be provided for the accommodation of traffic.
The Companies are required to bear all the expense of changes of grade
in the streets and avenues, except those made necessary by the
construction of the viaduct or bridge to be paid for in part by the
City; to indemnify the City against all liability for any and all
damages which may accrue on account of any street which may be closed or
the grades of which may be changed in pursuance of the agreement; to
assume all liabilities by reason of the construction or operation of the
railroads, or the construction of the viaducts, and to save the city
harmless from any liability whatever, to either persons or property, by
reason of the construction or operation of the railroads or the
construction of the viaducts.
The Companies are also required to indemnify the City against and pay
the cost of all alterations which may be required to the sewerage or
drainage system or to any sub-surface structures and pipes laid in the
streets or avenues on account of the construction and operation of the
terminal, passenger yard, or freight yard of the Companies, or on
account of the changes in grades or street system.
The Companies are authorized, if they deem it necessary to the
construction or to the efficient operation of the terminal passenger
yard or freight yard, to depress, at their expense, any pipes or other
sub-surface structures now under the surface of any of the portions of
the streets or avenues discontinued or closed, or to elevate and carry
the same upon any of the viaducts or bridges, the plans of such
depression or elevation to be approved by the Board of Estimate and
Apportionment.
All works within, upon, or over the public streets and avenues are
subject to the supervision and inspection of the proper municipal
officer or officers, under such regulations as he or they may determine
and be authorized by law to impose; and the plans for the construction
of viaducts or bridges are to be approved by the Board of Estimate and
Apportionment.
The Companies are required to cede to the City of New York perpetual
easements for the right to continue and maintain the viaducts or bridges
over the streets and avenues, sufficient for their control by the City
for the purpose of police regulation and other control contemplated by
the City ordinances for the case of streets or highways; reserving,
however, the right to construct and maintain, at their own expense, such
connections between the viaducts or bridges and their property as shall
not interfere with the use of the viaducts or bridges for street
purposes.
The Companies are also required to cede to the City, grade and curb,
portions of five existing or proposed streets or avenues, and to pave
portions of two other avenues.
Mr. A. J. Cassatt, President of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, was
President of the Companies constituting the New York Tunnel Extension
until his death on December 28th, 1906, and Mr. James McCrea, President
of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, was elected his successor, and is
now President of the Pennsylvania Tunnel and Terminal Railroad Company.
Mr. Samuel Rea, Second Vice-President of the Pennsylvania Railroad
Company, has served as Vice-President since the incorporation of the
enterprise.
Mr. A. J. County has been Assistant to the President since June 26th,
1907, and prior thereto and from the incorporation of the tunnel
enterprise served as Secretary of the Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New
York Railroad Company and as Assistant Secretary of the Pennsylvania,
New York and Long Island Railroad Company, which, as heretofore stated,
constitute the Pennsylvania Tunnel and Terminal Railroad Company.