October 29, 1989; 34 years ago (1989-10-29) (upper level) January 25, 2023; 15 months ago (2023-01-25) (lower level)
Operator
Metropolitan Transportation Authority
Technical
Length
3,140 feet (960 m) between shafts[1]
No. of tracks
4 (2 subway, 2 LIRR)
Track gauge
4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Electrified
Third rail, 600 V DC (upper level) Third rail, 750 V DC (lower level)
Width
38.5 feet (11.7 m)[1][2]
The 63rd Street Tunnel is a double-deck subway and railroad tunnel under the East River between the boroughs of Manhattan and Queens in New York City. Opened in 1989, it is the newest of the East River tunnels, as well as the newest rail river crossing in the New York metropolitan area. The upper level of the 63rd Street Tunnel carries the IND 63rd Street Line of the New York City Subway. The lower level carries Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) trains to Grand Central as part of the East Side Access project.
Construction of the 63rd Street Tunnel began in 1969. The tunnel was holed through beneath Roosevelt Island in 1972, but completion of the tunnel and its connections was delayed by the 1975 New York City fiscal crisis. The upper level was opened in 1989, twenty years after construction started. The lower level was not opened at that time because of the cancellation of the LIRR route to Manhattan. The tunnel was long referred to as the "tunnel to nowhere" because its Queens end did not connect to any other subway line until 2001. Construction on the East Side Access project, which uses the lower level, started in 2006; the lower level opened on January 25, 2023. During construction, the lower level was used to move materials between the work sites in Manhattan and staging areas in Queens.
^ abGuide to Civil Engineering Projects In and Around New York City (2nd ed.). Metropolitan Section, American Society of Civil Engineers. 2009. pp. 62–63.
^Cite error: The named reference ita-aites was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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