3. Industry City Connects to NYC’s only floating barge freight train line
While walking around Industry City, you may see some railroad tracks in the road, and occasionally a train coming through to Brooklyn Army Terminal. At the 65th Street Rail Yard resides one of New York City’s infrastructure survivors—a floating barge freight train line operated by the Port Authority that runs from to the Greenville Yard in Jersey City across the Hudson River. Though the line is only four miles long, it serves as a critical link for freight transportation in the New York region and cements the city’s commitment to bringing industry back to the waterfront. Taking just 35 to 40 minutes to cross the Hudson River, the floats help to take trucks off the highway and give freight a more direct route between New York and New Jersey.
The current floats transport 14 train cars at once, an equivalent of 56 semi-trucks, on two tracks side by side, but new car floats are being built by the Port Authority that will have four tracks, accommodating 18 train cars (equivalent to 72 trucks) and providing faster unload and reload times. New York and New Jersey Rail transports a large amount of local lumber and building materials, as well as food products like soybean oil and Washington state apples, separated recycled materials from the SIMS Municipal Recycling Facility nearby and other solid waste like scrap metal. Special cargo have included New York City transit subway cars and oversize pieces for the Willis Avenue Bridge, which spans the Harlem River.
