How bad is the SIR?

The Staten Island Railway

The Staten Island Railway is New York's fifth borough's own line — a single, ~14-mile rail route that runs from the St. George Ferry Terminal at the north tip of Staten Island all the way down to Tottenville at the south end. It's not part of the subway proper in the way the lettered and numbered lines are, but MTA runs it as a single, simple, uninterrupted main line.

The SIR (as railfans call it) is a throwback and a lesson at once. It shares track with freight and once ran as a proper branch of the old Staten Island Rapid Transit; today it operates as a single, no-transfer line that parallels the island's east coast, serving the waterfront communities between St. George and Tottenville. Because the island is car-dominated, the SIR's riders tend to be the ones who choose public transit — a more deliberate, more loyal ridership.

Rider well-knowns: the SIR runs on its own schedule and its own fare rules — it's an MTA service that historically charged its own fare even when the subway fare climbed, and to this day it has moved toward subway-fare parity. Its ride is scenic in a way the underground lines can't be: elevated end spans and open stretches give you the harbor and the bay views as you glide past the island's eastern edge. And its St. George terminal spits you directly into the Staten Island Ferry — arguably the best free ride in the city.

The SIR is a line that does one thing extremely well: connect the island's spine to the ferry that connects it to everything else. It's simple, it's scenic, it's reliable, and its riders wouldn't trade it for anything the other four boroughs run.