[Footnote B: Proposed train service when Station is opened, the
ultimate capacity of the Station being in excess of 1,000 trains per
day.]
The freight capacity of the Pennsylvania System at New York has been
greatly enlarged by the construction of the Greenville Yard and the
facilities connected therewith, but it is impossible to estimate the
amount of this increase. However, it is worthy of remark that, during
the period from 1900 to 1906, the freight traffic density on the
directly-operated lines of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company increased
from 3,268,330 to 4,742,081 ton-miles per mile of road, a growth of
nearly 50 per cent. Doubtless the improved freight facilities of the New
York District had a large influence in the development of this increase.
One of the most interesting points connected with this development of
traffic facilities is its influence on the relative distribution of
population in the different parts of the metropolitan district. In 1907
the population per acre of the different divisions of Greater New York
was reported as follows: Manhattan, 157; Brooklyn, 29; Bronx, 14;
Queens, 3; Richmond, 2. The effect of new lines connecting some of these
districts, and sections of New Jersey not far from the North River, with
the business center of the city will undoubtedly be to increase greatly
their population-density. It does not seem probable that the
population-density of Manhattan will be sensibly reduced by these
improvements, for they stimulate the increase of population, and
apparently no increase of transportation facilities can keep up with the
growth of the city. The population of a great commercial city must be
congested near the business center. This is a necessary condition of its
existence. All that can be done to meet this condition is to provide
all possible facilities for moving the people into and out of the
business districts and within its limits.
During recent years the business population of the lower part of the
Borough of Manhattan has become greatly congested. Very high buildings,
providing business accommodations for large numbers of people, have been
constructed, and these people must move to and from their working places
at about the same times, that is, at the "rush hours" in the morning and
afternoon, at the beginning and ending of the working day. Every effort
has been made to provide for this immense and rapidly increasing local
passenger traffic, by the construction of surface, elevated, and
subterranean railways; but the demand for transportation has increased
much faster than the facilities can be provided, and it is evident that
the limit of down-town passenger traffic facilities has been very nearly
reached.
Apparently, the only remedy for these conditions is the movement of
business and the people transacting it up-town or to the Boroughs of
Brooklyn and Queens, which are now readily accessible by tunnels and
subways. This movement, of course, is resisted by the great real estate
and money interests centered in the lower part of the city, but,
notwithstanding this resistance, the improvement has commenced and has
rapidly advanced. The great retail houses are being established above
23d Street; the banks and brokers' offices are rapidly appearing around
the new business center of the city. The facilities afforded by the
telephone and the subway for communication with the money center have
doubtless greatly promoted this up-town movement.
When the Pennsylvania Tunnel Extension is in operation, the easiest and
quickest way for the passenger to reach the city from Newark will bring
him into the Pennsylvania Station at Seventh Avenue and 33d Street. The
schedule fast time from Newark to the New York Cortlandt Street Station
is now 25 min. This may be reduced to about 18 min. by the use of the
Hudson Company's tunnels, and while this involves inconvenience in
changing transportation at Jersey City, yet it brings the traveler three
blocks nearer Broadway. The time from Newark to the Pennsylvania Station
will be about 17 min., and the trip will be made without change of
transportation, so that, undoubtedly, by far the greater part of the
Pennsylvania's passenger traffic desiring to reach the shopping and
hotel center of the city will go to the new up-town station.
The effect of the Tunnel Extension in increasing the volume and rapidity
of the up-town movement and the real estate values will be very great;
indeed, its influence is already apparent, although the line is not yet
opened for traffic. With the extension of the present subway down town
on the west side with direct connections to Brooklyn, and up town from
42d Street to the Bronx, with connections to permit convenient transfers
between these two straightaway subways--one on the east side and the
other on the west side of Manhattan--the Pennsylvania Station will
become a great center for receiving and distributing passenger traffic
between all the Boroughs of the City and outlying points. The new post
office to be established adjacent to the Terminal Station will also
greatly assist in accelerating the up-town movement.
In concluding this account of the New York Tunnel Extension project, the
writer desires to pay a tribute of admiration and respect to the memory
of the late A. J. Cassatt, President of the Pennsylvania Railroad
Company, to whom the conception, design, and execution of the project
are mainly due. His education and experience as a civil engineer, his
thorough knowledge of all the details of railroad construction,
operation, and management, gained by long and varied service, the
directness, clearness, and strength of his mind, and his great executive
ability, placed him at the head of the railroad men of the country. In
the consideration of great problems, whether of transportation, finance,
commerce, or political economy, he was almost unequaled, owing to the
breadth, originality, and decisiveness of his character; yet his manner
to his subordinates was so direct and simple that he seemed unconscious
of his own superiority. Great as it is, the New York plan of improvement
is only one item in a far-reaching scheme of development which became
the policy of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company through Mr. Cassatt's
advice and influence, yet his strongest interest was doubtless centered
in the New York works. It is the sincere regret of all connected with
the design and execution of the project that he did not live to see its
completion.