Posted by: George Berbert (GBerbert@worldnet.att.net) on 9/26/1996@14:53hrs:

In Reply to: Old Northshore Line of S.I.R.T. posted by: Mr. Lee Shake on 9/06/1996@02:40hrs:

This is comment on your message re the abondonment of the North Shore branch. Both the North Shore branch and the South beach branch were abandoned of the same weekend. The SIRT had the third rails removed on Sat. and Sun. before NYC could get a restraining order. That left the tracks for freight. They needed the North Shore to get to their bridge to NJ for freight transfer. The city had taken over the privately operated bus lines and put a 10 cent fare over all routes. Previously the bus lines charged on a zone basis. The buses were cheaper than the SIRT, but speed and convenience kept the SIRT very popular and in business. The buses single fare was disasterous! The SIRT cut the number of South Shore trains per day in half and abandoned the North Shore and South Beach routes. The resulting outburst from train commuters caused the city to add a zoning system to the bus fares and service on the South Shore was resumed. However the SIRT said they couldn't reinstall the third rails on the other two routes unless the city paid for it.

Some of this is recollection since I didn't live on SI anymore. I was a new father living in Connecticut. My folks were still there, however.

Enough of this, if you're interested I'll relate the story of the St. George ferry terminal fire.

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