Peekskill station is a commuter rail stop on the

Metro-North Railroad Metro-North Railroad , trading as MTA Metro-North Railroad, is a suburban commuter rail service run by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), a New York State public benefit corporations, public authority of the U.S. state of New Yor ...

's Hudson Line, located in Peekskill, New York. Trains leave for New York City every hour on weekdays and about every 25 minutes during

rush hour A rush hour (American English, British English) or peak hour (Australian English) is a part of the day during which traffic congestion on roads and crowding on public transport is at its highest. Normally, this happens twice every weekday: on ...

. The train stops at several places on its way, such as Cortlandt, Ossining, and Tarrytown. It is from

Grand Central Terminal Grand Central Terminal (GCT; also referred to as Grand Central Station or simply as Grand Central) is a commuter rail terminal located at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Grand Central is the southern terminus ...

and travel time to Grand Central is approximately one hour. It is the northernmost station on the line in Westchester County. It is just south of a

grade crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an overpass or tunnel. The term also ...

whose gates remain down when any northbound train is in the station. The former station building built by the

New York Central and Hudson River Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Midw ...

in 1874 still stands, although it is no longer staffed.

History

Rail service in Peekskill began on September 29, 1849 with the

Hudson River Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Mid ...

. The

freight depot A transport hub is a place where passengers and cargo are exchanged between vehicles and/or between transport modes. Public transport hubs include railway stations, rapid transit stations, bus stops, tram stops, airports and ferry slips ...

, was the site of a February 19, 1861 visit by Abraham Lincoln who stopped there during his train trip to his inauguration. The railroad was acquired by the

in November 1869, and they rebuilt the passenger station in 1874. NYC&HR rebuilt the freight depot around 1890 and today it is on the National Register of Historic Places, as is the

Standard House The Standard House is a landmark in the city of Peekskill in Westchester County, New York, built in 1855. It is located at 50 Hudson Avenue between South Water Street and the Metro-North Hudson Line train tracks. An Italianate brick building, i ...

which served the railroad, as well as ships on the Hudson River. A 1943

New York Central The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Midw ...

schedule lists Peekskill as the northern terminus of its Hudson Division commuter service. Trains continuing north of Peekskill were "long distance" trains, continuing not just to Poughkeepsie but also to Albany and other destinations. With the railroads in decline during the post-WW II era, New York Central merged with their long time rival

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...

in 1968 and the station became a Penn Central station. Amtrak took over intercity passenger service in 1971, but Peekskill station continued to serve only the expanded Penn Central Hudson Division trains which by that time ran to Poughkeepsie and were subsidized by the MTA.

Conrail Conrail , formally the Consolidated Rail Corporation, was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeastern United States between 1976 and 1999. The trade name Conrail is a portmanteau based on the company's legal name. It continues to do busin ...

took over Penn Central in 1976 and ran Hudson Branch trains as far north as Albany until 1981 when they reverted to Poughkeepsie where it has remained ever since. MTA assigned the station to the newly established Metro-North Commuter Railroad in 1983.

Station layout

The station has four tracks and two high-level side platforms each six cars long. Tracks 4 and 6 terminate at the north end of the station while tracks 1 and 2 continue on.

References

External links

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Peekskill Metro-North Hudson Line Station (Road and Rail Pictures)

Entrance from Google Maps Street View
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peekskill (Metro-North Station) Metro-North Railroad stations in New York (state) Former New York Central Railroad stations Railway stations in Westchester County, New York Buildings and structures in Peekskill, New York Railway stations in the United States opened in 1849 U.S. Route 9 1849 establishments in New York (state)