Marble Hill (Metro-North station)

Marble Hill
Freight locomotives pass through the station. October 2014.
Location	1 West 225th Street Marble Hill, Manhattan, New York
Coordinates	40°52′29″N 73°54′43″W / 40.8747°N 73.9120°WCoordinates: 40°52′29″N 73°54′43″W / 40.8747°N 73.9120°W
Owned by	Metro-North Railroad
Line(s)	Hudson Line
Platforms	1 island platform
Tracks	3
Connections	New York City Subway: train at Marble Hill – 225th Street NYCT Bus: Bx7, Bx9, Bx20 MTA Bus: BxM1
Other information
Fare zone	2
History
Opened	1906
Rebuilt	2005
Electrified	700V (DC) third rail
Traffic
Passengers (2006)	27,040  0%
Services
Preceding station   Metro-North Railroad   Following station University Heights toward Grand Central Hudson Line Spuyten Duyvil toward Poughkeepsie   Former services   New York Central Railroad Spuyten Duyvil toward Peekskill Hudson Division University Heights toward New York City

The Marble Hill Metro-North Railroad station serves the Marble Hill neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City via the Hudson Line of the railroad. The station is located at 1 West 225th Street, two blocks west of the Broadway Bridge on the north side of the Harlem River, near the Marble Hill – 225th Street station (1 train) on the IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. The station is 9.8 miles (15.8 km) from Grand Central Terminal and travel time to Grand Central is about 20 minutes.

The Marble Hill station is frequently used by commuters going to and from the Manhattan neighborhoods of the Upper West Side, Washington Heights, Hudson Heights and Inwood; about a third of the station's daily ridership disembarks at Marble Hill to transfer to the subway.^[1] With the easy subway transfer, albeit up a number of flights of stairs, many commuters choose to save money in exchange for a slightly longer commute, thus avoiding the additional cost of taking the trains directly into Grand Central Terminal or Harlem–125th Street.

Marble Hill used to be one of four express stations on the Hudson Line line south of Croton–Harmon; most trains stopped there, except for peak-hour trains to and from Poughkeepsie.^[2] However, as of November 9, 2014, the only express trains that stop there are a few reverse peak trains in the morning, though most trains originating in or terminating at Croton do stop at the station.^[3]

History

Prior to the construction of the Harlem River Ship Canal, the Hudson Line went around Marble Hill, and the nearest station was a station in the Bronx named Kingsbridge, which was also the name of a nearby station on the New York and Putnam Railroad.^[4] Between 1905 and 1906 the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad realigned the tracks along the north coast of the canal and built Marble Hill station on the east side of the Broadway Bridge.^[5] As with the rest of the stations along the Hudson Line, the station became a Penn Central station upon the merger between NYC and Pennsylvania Railroad in 1968. Penn Central continued commuter travel until it was taken over by Conrail in 1976, which at some point, moved the station to the west side of the bridge before the station and commuter line was taken over by Metro-North Railroad in 1983.

Platform and tracks

This station has one high-level island platform accessible by enclosed stairway from West 225th Street. The platform is short; when trains stop at this station, only four cars can receive and discharge passengers.

The platform is between Tracks 1 and 2. Track 4, to the west and not adjacent to the platform, is used only by express trains.

Until the late 1970s the station lay east of the Broadway Bridge with two low-level side platforms serving a four-track line, providing a more direct connection to the bridge sidewalk via a short flight of steps. However, the current location west of Broadway is closer to the residential section of Marble Hill and the downtown platform of the subway. The former northbound express track was removed.

1	■ Hudson Line	for Croton–Harmon, Poughkeepsie
2	■ Hudson Line	for Grand Central
4	■ Hudson Line	Passing track, no platform

References

1. "MTA Metro-North Railroad to Build Retaining Wall at Marble Hill Station" (Press release). Metro-North Railroad. 2008-01-31. Retrieved 2010-02-21.
2. "2006 Hudson Line Timetable" (PDF).
3. "Hudson Line Timetable" (PDF).
4. 1899 Home Life Map of New York City ( Manhattan and the Bronx ) - Geographicus - NYC-HomeLife-1899.jpg (map). 1899. Retrieved October 18, 2014 – via WikiMedia Commons.
5. Documents of the Senate of the State of New York: Volume 3 (1907)

External links

• Metro-North Railroad - Marble Hill
• List of upcoming train departure times and track assignments from MTA
• The Subway Nut - Marble Hill
• New York Central-era photograph (Dave's Electric Railroads; Joe Testagrose Collection)