West Side Line

The West Side Line, also called the West Side Freight Line, is a railroad line on the west side of the New York City borough of Manhattan. North of Penn Station, from 34th Street, the line is currently used by Amtrak passenger service heading north via Albany to points as far north as Montreal, and west to Chicago. South of Penn Station, a 1.45-mile (2.33 km) elevated section of the line, abandoned since 1980, has been transformed into an elevated park called the High Line, which opened in sections between 2009 and 2014.

The line as originally constructed in 1849 was primarily at-grade, much of it running along streets. Its southern portion was replaced in the 1930s, with an elevated portion up to 35th Street, and a below-grade portion on a new alignment up to 59th Street. At about the same time, the portion from 72nd Street to 120th Street was covered to form what is now called the Freedom Tunnel. In the 1980s, the elevated portion south of 35th Street was abandoned, and the new Empire Connection tunnel connected the remaining portion to Penn Station. The 60th Street Yard, which occupied the space between the below-grade sections, was redeveloped into Riverside South and the tracks covered in the late 1990s and 2000s.