Greenville Yard is a freight rail yard in the

Port of New York and New Jersey The Port of New York and New Jersey is the port district of the New York metropolitan area, New York-Newark metropolitan area, encompassing the region within approximately a radius of the Statue of Liberty National Monument. It includes the sy ...

. It is located on

Upper New York Bay New York Harbor is a bay that covers all of the Upper Bay. It is at the mouth of the Hudson River near the East River tidal estuary on the East Coast of the United States. New York Harbor is generally synonymous with Upper New York Bay ...

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, second-most populous

, adjacent and north of Port Jersey. Originally developed in 1904 by the

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad ( reporting mark PRR), legal name as the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, also known as the "Pennsy," was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At its ...

, it was later taken over by

Conrail Conrail , formally the Consolidated Rail Corporation, was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeastern United States between 1976 and 1999. The trade name Conrail is a portmanteau based on the company's legal name. It continues to do busine ...

. It has been owned by the

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, (PANYNJ; stylized, in logo since 2020, as Port Authority NY NJ) is a joint venture between the U.S. states of New York (state), New York and New Jersey, established in 1921 through an interstate c ...

since 2010. It takes its name from the former municipality of Greenville, now part of the city.

New York New Jersey Rail

The New York New Jersey Rail, LLC, (formerly the New York Cross Harbor Railroad), transfers freight cars across the bay to the

65th Street Yard The 65th Street Yard, also Bay Ridge Rail Yard, is a rail yard on the Upper New York Bay in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, Sunset Park and Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. Equipped with two transfer bridges which allow rail cars to be loaded and unloaded onto car ...

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

. This

car float A railroad car float or rail barge is a specialised form of Lighter (barge), lighter with railway tracks mounted on its deck used to move rolling stock across water obstacles, or to locations they could not otherwise go. An unpowered barge, it i ...

operation reduces transfer time since they are not permitted to use New York Tunnel Extension under the

Hudson River The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

, and

East River The East River is a saltwater Estuary, tidal estuary or strait in New York City. The waterway, which is not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates Long Island, ...

. Overland must they cross the Hudson 140 miles (225 km) to the north at Selkirk, New York, making a detour known as the " Selkirk hurdle." NYNJ leases approximately of land at

's Greenville Yard, where it connects with two

Class I railroad Railroad classes are the system by which Rail freight transport, freight railroads are designated in the United States. Railroads are assigned to Class I, II or III according to annual revenue criteria originally set by the Surface Transportatio ...

s –

CSX Transportation CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad company operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Operating about 21,000 route miles () of track, it is the lead ...

and

Norfolk Southern Railway The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States. Headquartered in Atlanta, the company was formed in 1982 with the merger of the Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. The comp ...

– both use

's North Jersey Shared Assets Area Access to the national freight rail network and

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway () , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...

is possible via the Lehigh Valley Railroad Bridge to the west or the Long Dock Tunnel to the northwest.

ExpressRail Port Jersey

Greenville Yard is one of four rail terminals that compose

ExpressRail ExpressRail is a network of on- or near-dock rail yards supporting intermodal freight transport at the major container terminals of the Port of New York and New Jersey. The development of dockside trackage and rail yards for transloading has bee ...

, a PANYNJ initiative to improve rail transfers within the

. It serves the adjacent car float operation New York New Jersey Rail, barge-to-rail transfer of New York waste, and the adjacent CMA CGM Port Liberty Bayonne container facility. In 2010, the PANYNJ purchased the yard with the intention to upgrade it, particularly to support New York solid waste transfer and reduce truck trips. In 2011, the PANYNJ contracted HDR, Inc. as primary design consultant. In September 2014, the PANYNJ announced funding for the major redevelopment of the Greenville Yard, to include a new rail container terminal. About 10,000 feet of working track, 32,000 feet of support track and switches, along with infrastructure to support rail-mounted

gantry crane A gantry crane is a Crane (machine), crane built atop a wikt:gantry, gantry, which is a structure used to straddle an object or workspace. They can range from enormous "full" gantry cranes, capable of lifting some of the heaviest loads in the wor ...

s, will be constructed for the ExpressRail terminal, which will initially support 125,000 container lifts a year. The PANYNJ will also build two new rail-to-barge transfer bridges, purchase two new

barges, each with 18 rail car capacity, and buy four new ultra low emission locomotives, replacing antiquated units. Of the project’s $356 million cost, $320 million will be paid by the agency with the remainder coming from stakeholders. The new facility is expected to become operational in July 2016. The

New Jersey Department of Transportation The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) is the agency responsible for transportation issues and policy in New Jersey, including maintaining and operating the state's highway and public road system, planning and developing transport ...

allocated more than $87 million for 2014-2017 fiscal budget for the project and other related word, including land acquisition. Construction began in December 2016, with completion expected in 2018. The first phase of the project, with four tracks and two gantry cranes, opened on January 7, 2019. The second and final phase of the project, with four additional tracks bringing the total number of tracks to eight, was opened on June 17, 2019. GCT Global Container Terminals operated the yard until CMA CGM took over port operations in mid-2023.

History

Pennsylvania Railroad

The Greenville Yard takes its name from the former town of Greenville which became part of

Jersey City Jersey City is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, second-most populous

in the 1860s. The yard also lends its name to a nearby industrial park and distribution center. The yard was first developed in 1904 by the

, and opened with three based on designs of their bridges at Harsimus Cove. They were referred to as No.11, No.12, and No.13. A number of different organizations were involved in its construction: the Steele & Condict Company of New Jersey manufactured the bridge mechanisms, Henry Steers, Inc. did the foundation, pile racks, bridges, and aprons, while the Cooper-Wigand-Cooke Company and the R.P. & J.H. Staats Company of New York jointly erected the bridge superstructure and transfer machinery housing. The new designs utilized electric motors and controls, and a live load

counterweight A counterweight is a weight (object), weight that, by applying an opposite force, provides balance and stability of a machine, mechanical system. The purpose of a counterweight is to make lifting the load faster and more efficient, which saves e ...

system. PRR set the industry standard for electrified lift bridges with this design; virtually identical bridges were built in the

area by the

New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad , commonly known as The Consolidated, or simply as the New Haven, was a railroad that operated principally in the New England region of the United States from 1872 to 1968. Founded by the merger of ...

at their

Oak Point Yard The Oak Point Yard is a freight railroad rail yard, yard located in Hunts Point, Bronx, Hunts Point, The Bronx, New York City. The yard is owned by CSX Transportation, and is a base for CSX's local deliveries in the area, including to the Hunts ...

in 1908, and the

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the oldest railroads in North America, oldest railroad in the United States and the first steam engine, steam-operated common carrier. Construction of the line began in 1828, and it operated as B&O from 1830 ...

at their St. George, Staten Island terminal in 1912. A fourth bridge, No.14, was added in 1910, and a fifth, No.10, in 1924. This was constructed by the Schuylkill Bridge Works Division of the Lewis F. Shoemaker & Company. On January 1, 1931, a short-circuit caused the wooden superstructure of Bridge No.10 to ignite. Within 15 minutes, two more superstructures and the wooden transfer house were ablaze. As there were no roads to the yard, land-based firefighters had to be brought in a mile by rail. There were 50 firefighters and land, and 20 tugs and fire boats. The only injury reported was a fractured ankle, when the employee jumped down a burning stairwell to survive. The car float and 25 cars owned by the NYNH&H that were docked at Bridge No.10 were a total loss, while three other car floats that sustained varying damage were salvageable. All five bridges were put out of service, and freight was rerouted through PRR's other facilities in Harsimus Cove and Exchange Place, in addition to the Lehigh Valley Railroad's terminal on the Morris Canal Basin. The fire cost the PRR $500,000 and $1 million, which in the 2014 value of the dollar would be between $7.772 million and $15.55 million. It put unemployed 300 workers, although within two days they were put to work repairing bridges at Greenville or working at other PRR yards in the area. The American Bridge Company was contracted to rebuild the bridges, and were built functionally identical to the previous bridges; the design of the bridges were still extremely efficient, and the only major change was the elimination of any wood. Bridges Nos. 10, 13, and 14 were initially repaired, with No.12 being cleared for rebuilding in 1939. Because of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, however, the plan was suspended indefinitely. A new bridge, No.9, was later put into service in November 9, 1943 to satisfy traffic being generated by the

Brooklyn Navy Yard The Brooklyn Navy Yard (originally known as the New York Navy Yard) is a shipyard and industrial complex in northwest Brooklyn in New York City, New York (state), New York, U.S. The Navy Yard is located on the East River in Wallabout Bay, a se ...

and Brooklyn Army Terminal across the bay. These two facilities were most often the last place troops and supplies went before embarking to Europe.

PANYNJ

In May 2010, the Port Authority announced that it would purchase the Greenville Yard and build a new barge-to-rail facility there, as well as improving the existing rail car float system. The barge-to-rail facility is expected to handle an estimated 60,000 to 90,000 containers of solid waste per year from New York City, eliminating up to 360,000 trash truck trips a year. The authority's board authorized $118.1 million for the overall project. The

allocated more than $70 million in it 2012 fiscal budget for improvement to the barge and bridge operations. In November 2011, the Port Authority contracted HDR, Inc. as prime design consultant. Work includes rehabilitating the railyard and waterfront structures, including a rail barge and transfer bridge, demolishing two other bridges, designing a new barge and two new bridges, and adding 10,000 feet of track. The project is expected to take 5 years. The site will include a large new intermodal rail terminal to be called ExpressRail Port Jersey. On October 29, 2012,

Hurricane Sandy Hurricane Sandy (unofficially referred to as Superstorm Sandy) was an extremely large and devastating tropical cyclone which ravaged the Caribbean and the coastal Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States in late ...

caused major damage to the Greenville facility, undermining the float bridge gantries and sinking one of the car floats. The 81-year-old gantry structures were in such bad condition that they had to be demolished. The working float bridge at Bush Terminal was transferred by barge to Greenville to restore rail float service. Previously plans called for the gantries to be demolished in phases and replaced by two new float bridges and a barge transfer station. On September 17, 2014, the Port Authority announced that it was funding a major redevelopment of the Greenville Yard, to include a new

container terminal servicing the Global Marine Terminal. About 10,000 feet of working track, 32,000 feet of support track and switches, along with infrastructure to support rail-mounted

s, will be constructed. The new terminal will initially support 125,000 container lifts a year. The Port Authority will also build two new rail to barge transfer bridges, purchase two new

barges, each with 18 rail car capacity, and buy four new KLW SE10B ultra low emission locomotives, replacing antiquated units. Of the project’s $356 million cost, $320 million will be paid by the Port Authority, with the remainder coming from stakeholders. The new facility was expected to become operational in July 2016. The two barges were delivered in 2017 and 2018 and four of the eight tracks of the new intermodal transfer facility opened on January 7, 2019, with the remaining four tracks opening on June 17, 2019. The two rail mounts gantry cranes span the eight working tracks and cantilever over two truck lanes on each side. The new intermodal container transfer facility will have a capacity of 250,000 container lifts per year, increasing the port's overall capacity to 1.5 million lifts per year.

References

External links

The Port of New York and New JerseyNew York New Jersey Rail
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GREENVILLE YARD, TRANSFER BRIDGE SYSTEM AND FREIGHT OPERATIONS 2011
{{Hudson County Transportation Network Economy of Jersey City, New Jersey Geography of Hudson County, New Jersey Greenville Yard Neighborhoods in Hudson County, New Jersey Piers in New Jersey Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Port of New York and New Jersey Ports and harbors of New Jersey Pennsylvania Railroad Conrail Rail yards in New Jersey Transportation buildings and structures in Hudson County, New Jersey 1904 establishments in New Jersey Waste management infrastructure of New York City