An extension from New Utrecht east and northeast to New Lots opened in 1877, and at the same time the New York and Manhattan Beach Railway opened the line from New Lots north to East New York. An extension north from East New York to Cooper Avenue (and then northwest to Greenpoint, later the Evergreen Branch) opened in 1878, and the Long Island City and Manhattan Beach Railroad (incorporated February 24, 1883, merged with the New York and Manhattan Beach and New York, Bay Ridge and Jamaica into the New York, Brooklyn and Manhattan Beach Railway August 27, 1885) built from Cooper Avenue north to the Montauk Branch at Glendale in 1883.
On June 4, 1999, Mayor Rudy Giuliani announced that New York City reached an agreement to open and operate the 65th Street Yard with the New York and Atlantic Railway, which would use it as an intermodal facility to expand its customer base. The takeover of Conrail by Norfolk Southern Railway and CSX Transportation was expected to significantly increase rail freight movement into New York City. The yard was completely renovated by the New York City Economic Development Corporation. The NYCEDC also began work on a two-year Cross Harbor Freight Movement Study to evaluate options for a freight tunnel.
Proposals
A proposed Cross-Harbor Rail Tunnel from New Jersey to Brooklyn would use the Bay Ridge Branch to reach the rest of Long Island, with the line upgraded to double-stack clearances. The state is conducting an environmental review of the project.
Another proposal would have the New York City Subway use the tracks to link Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx via the Hell Gate Bridge. In 1996 the Regional Plan Association conducted a study to determine the feasibility of the rail link. Based on Paris's RER commuter rail system, the Triboro RX proposal would create a loop around the city. It was first proposed by the Regional Plan Association in 1996. The proposed line, discussion of which was revived in 2012, would connect to all non-shuttle subway services. Obstacles for the proposal include the proposed Cross-Harbor Rail Tunnel, the lack of electrification on the line, and the single-tracking in some parts of the line. Additionally, there is debate on where the line's northern terminus would be: some, including MoveNY, call for it to end at Hunts Point, while others suggest it end at Yankee Stadium.
In mid-October 2019, the MTA announced that it would study the feasibility of restoring passenger service on the Bay Ridge Branch between Bay Ridge and Astoria, a portion of the proposed Triboro RX route. On January 23, 2020, the MTA Board awarded a $1.3 million contract to study the feasibility of restoring passenger service to this section to AECOM. In November 2021, Acting MTA Chairman and CEO Janno Lieber said that money from Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act could be used to fund the completion of the Bay Ridge Branch project.
In early January 2022, as part of her State of the State address, New York governor Kathy Hochul announced that the state would move forward with the Bay Ridge Branch Line by conducting an environmental study on the Interborough Express, a 14-mile (23 km) corridor using the existing Bay Ridge Branch from Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, to Jackson Heights, Queens. The study would consider whether the line should be heavy rail (rapid transit or regional rail), light rail, or bus rapid transit. End-to-end travel times are expected to be 40 minutes, and weekday ridership is initially projected to be 74,000 to 88,000. The route would connect up to 17 subway lines and the Long Island Rail Road. A feasibility study was also completed on January 20, 2022.
Governor Hochul also announced that she had directed the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to complete an environmental review for the Cross-Harbor Rail Tunnel for freight. Hochul announced in her January 2023 address that the project would proceed as a light rail corridor. Reasons for the light rail choice include faster service, easier construction—mostly fitting in existing right of way with a short on street segment, availability of off-the-shelf rolling stock and a lower overall cost, estimated at $5.5 billion, or about $48,000 per expected daily rider. The proposed headway is 5 minutes during peak hours and 10 minutes at other times. Freight use would continue, requiring separated tracks.
Former stations
The following passenger stations once existed on the line:
^"Interborough Express". mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. January 5, 2021. Archived from the original on January 9, 2022. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
