The Brown Line is a route that is part of the SIRT division. It is also known as the SIRT Bloomingdale Line.
| Cars | South Terminal | North Terminal |
|---|---|---|
| R83 | Tottenville | St. George |
Route Description[]
The line starts at the St George terminal with the Blue Line. After leaving the terminal, it operates under Victory Boulevard to Clove Lake. After Clove Lake, it runs through the middle of Staten Island under a private right-of-way to Staten Island Mall. After Staten Island Mall, the Brown line crosses the Fresh Kills, running through Rossville and Bloomingdale until it reaches Charleston for Connections to the Bricktown Mall. The Brown line then continues under Arthur Kill and meets the Blue Line again, following it to the Tottenville terminal.
Route History[]
The original line was proposed as early as 1920. Originally, the line was planned to start in Brooklyn around 67th street, running under the Staten Island tunnel until around the location of Tompkinsville West. The line ran southwest along the current location of Victory Boulevard and along a private right-of-way through the present day Richmond Parkway, Latourette Park and Brookfield Park before ending at a location around Bloomingdale. However, the line was never built except for a portion of the Staten Island Tunnel between 1923 and 1925.
In the 1960's, service was revised to run from Bay Ridge-95th Street as an extension of the current day R train, running from Bay Ridge via the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, then along the I-278 to Sunnyside then through the original proposed right-of-way to Bloomingdale. This line connected to the Mainline near Grasmere. the eastern segment would later be split off to form the Purple Line. This proposal was axed in 1964 when the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge was built with no rail provisions. In the late 1960s, intense community opposition erupted over the portion east of Richmond Avenue—much of it from environmentalists—because the parkway's planned route would have bisected the Staten Island Greenbelt and would have required the condemnation and razing of miles of private property. As a result, the line was to be built underground in a new right-of-way until past New Springville.
On April 21, 1971, the ICC approved the city's purchase of the rail system. On July 1, 1971, operation of the Tottenville line was turned over to the Staten Island Rapid Transit Operating Authority, a division of the state's MTA. As part of an agreement, the City helped the SIRTOA fund 3 new north-south lines on Staten Island, all which are proposed to improve connectivity on the Island. The line from Brooklyn was proposed again as part of these plans, but was to be built during please 2 of the project. Groundbreaking occured in March 1978.
In the late 1980's, the line was modified to run through New Springville to connect with the new Staten Island Mall. This new station also connected to the Red and Green Lines at the station. At this time, the Brooklyn-Bloomingdale route was split to form the Purple Line between North Arlington and Bay Ridge, with the Brown Line being a fully underground route between St. George and Bloomingdale. The route began device in August 1991, providing new service through the Mid-Island.
The Brown Line was built with provisions for an extension towards New Jersey. However, the line was instead built towards Staten Island's south tip, with a station at Charleston opening in June 2011 and service to Arthur Kill and Tottenville opening in January 2017. The extension to New Jersey at Perth Amboy will be funded in the 2025-29 Capital Plan, when new trains begin to be delivered and the new OMNY system is implement along with a new fare payment system. This would revive lost service between Perth Amboy and Tottenville, having no direct service since the 1960's.
Stations[]
| Station | Minutes from St. George | Date opened |
Connections / notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. George Terminal | 0 | March 7, 1886 | Staten Island Ferry to Whitehall Terminal NYCT Bus: S40, S42, S44, S46, S48, S51, S52, S61, S62, S66, S74, S76, S78, S81, S84, S86, S90, S91, S92, S94, S96, S98 SIRT: Red Line, Blue Line |
| Tompkinsville West | 2 | August 25, 1991 | NYCT Bus: S46, S48, S51, S52, S61, S62, S66, S78, S81, S91, S92, S96, S98 |
| Cebra Avenue | 4 | August 25, 1991 | NYCT Bus: S46, S48, S52, S61, S62, S66, S91, S92, S96, S98 |
| Hero Park | 5 | August 25, 1991 | NYCT Bus: S48, S61, S62, S66, S91, S92, S98, X30 |
| Silver Lake | 7 | August 25, 1991 | NYCT Bus: S61, S62, S66, S91, S92, X30 |
| Clove Lake | 9 | September 13, 1981 | NYCT Bus: S53, S61, S62, S66, S91, S92, S93, X14, X30 SIRT: Yellow Line |
| Sunnyside | 11 | August 25, 1991 | SIRT: Purple Line |
| Emerson Hill | 14 | September 13, 1981 | NYCT Bus: S54 SIRT: Orange Line |
| Seaview Hospital | 18 | August 25, 1991 | NYCT Bus: S54, S57 |
| Latourette Park | 22 | August 25, 1991 | |
| Staten Island Mall | 24 | August 25, 1991 | NYCT Bus: S44, S55, S56, S59, S61, S79, S89, S91, S94, X17, X31 SIRT: Red Line, Green Line |
| Village Greens | 28 | August 25, 1991 | NYCT Bus: S56, S74, S84, X17, X19, X21, X23 |
| Rossville | 31 | August 25, 1991 | NYCT Bus: S74, S84, X17, X22 |
| Bloomingdale | 33 | August 25, 1991 | NYCT Bus: S55, S74, S84 |
| Charleston | 37 | June 26, 2011 | NYCT Bus: S74 |
| Tottenville | 41 | January 21, 2017 | NYCT Bus: S74, S78, S84 SIRT: Blue Line |
