Editing Hell Gate Bridge (section)

== Operational history<span class="anchor" id="Operation"></span> ==

=== Opening ===
The first train ran across the bridge at a dedication ceremony on March 9, 1917,<ref>{{cite news |date=March 10, 1917 |title=New Hell Gate Bridge Dedicated To Public Service: Pennsylvania and New Haven Systems Joined by Connecting Railroad |work=New-York Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |page=11 |id={{ProQuest|575687356}} |postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=March 10, 1917 |title=Hell Gate Route Tested; Through Service Soon from New England to West and South. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1917/03/10/archives/hell-gate-route-tested-through-service-soon-from-new-england-to.html |access-date=March 1, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |postscript=none |archive-date=March 1, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240301200606/https://www.nytimes.com/1917/03/10/archives/hell-gate-route-tested-through-service-soon-from-new-england-to.html |url-status=live}}; {{Cite news |date=March 10, 1917 |title=First Train Crosses Hell Gate Bridge |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-first-train-cro/142455453/ |access-date=March 1, 2024 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |issn=2577-9397 |pages=5 |postscript=none |archive-date=March 1, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240301200609/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-first-train-cro/142455453/ |url-status=live}}; {{cite magazine |date=March 16, 1917 |title=New York Connecting Railroad Finished |magazine=Railway Age Gazette |page=453 |volume=62 |issue=11 |id={{ProQuest|886556136}}}}</ref><ref name="nrhs1917">{{cite book |last1=Thom |first1=William G. |title=The New York Connecting Railroad |last2=Sturm |first2=Robert C. |date=2006 |publisher=Long Island-Sunrise Chapter, [[National Railway Historical Society]] |isbn=9780988691605 |page=46}}</ref> on a track constructed for the occasion.<ref name="n142522091">{{Cite news |date=March 10, 1917 |title=Big Gang Laying Hell Gate R. R. |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-big-gang-laying-hell-gate-r/142522091/ |access-date=March 2, 2024 |work=Times Union |pages=8 |archive-date=March 2, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240302193055/https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-big-gang-laying-hell-gate-r/142522091/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The Hell Gate Bridge was not complete; workers were still laying tracks,<ref name="n142522091" /> and the line was not electrified.<ref name="n142458180">{{Cite news |date=March 10, 1917 |title=Over New Route |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-buffalo-commercial-over-new-route/142458180/ |access-date=March 1, 2024 |work=The Buffalo Commercial |pages=11 |archive-date=March 1, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240301200612/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-buffalo-commercial-over-new-route/142458180/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Intercity passenger trains began running on April 1<ref>{{cite news |date=April 2, 1917 |title=Hell Gate Bridge is Opened for Traffic |work=New-York Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |page=9 |id={{ProQuest|575725239}} |postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=April 2, 1917 |title=Open All-rail Line Boston to Capital; Federal Express Passes Over New Hell Gate Bridge This Morning in Initial Trip |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1917/04/02/archives/open-allrail-line-boston-to-capital-federal-express-passes-over-new.html |access-date=March 1, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=March 1, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240301200607/https://www.nytimes.com/1917/04/02/archives/open-allrail-line-boston-to-capital-federal-express-passes-over-new.html |url-status=live}}</ref> with the rerouting of the NH's ''[[Federal Express (train)|Federal Express]]'' via the bridge.<ref>{{cite news |date=March 31, 1917 |title=First Train Over Hell Gate Bridge |work=The Christian Science Monitor |page=5 |issn=0882-7729 |id={{ProQuest|509877174}} |postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=March 31, 1917 |title=Open Hell Gate Bridge; Federal Express of the New Haven Road First Train Over the Structure. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1917/03/31/archives/open-hell-gate-bridge-federal-express-of-the-new-haven-road-first.html |access-date=March 1, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=March 1, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240301200605/https://www.nytimes.com/1917/03/31/archives/open-hell-gate-bridge-federal-express-of-the-new-haven-road-first.html |url-status=live}}</ref> The Hell Gate span was the world's [[List of longest arch bridge spans|longest steel arch bridge]] until the [[Bayonne Bridge]], between New York and New Jersey, was completed in 1931.<ref name="New York City Department of Parks & Recreation 1939 l157">{{cite web |date=April 29, 1939 |title=Best Places to See NYC's Bridges : NYC Parks |url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/highlights/best-places-to-see-NYC-bridges |access-date=March 8, 2024 |website=New York City Department of Parks & Recreation |archive-date=November 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221108215809/https://www.nycgovparks.org/highlights/best-places-to-see-NYC-bridges |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="p236899975">{{Cite magazine |last=Jablow |first=Valerie |date=Oct 1999 |title=Othmar Ammann's Glory |magazine=Smithsonian |pages=34,36,38 |volume=30 |issue=7 |id={{ProQuest|236899975}}}}</ref> Its completion enabled passengers to travel the length of the Northeast Corridor without having to transfer to a ferry.<ref name="Barron 2017 y5212" /> Ammann initially estimated that the bridge would be mostly used by freight trains, because capacity constraints at Pennsylvania Station limited the bridge's two passenger tracks to 80 trains a day, and because most NH trains were planned to continue running to Grand Central.<ref name="Ammann p. 1657">{{harvnb|Ammann|1918|ps=.|page=1657}}</ref>

In mid-1917, NYCR applied for permission to issue $1.5 million{{efn-lr|About ${{Inflation|index=US-GDP|start_year=1917|value=1.5|fmt=c}} million in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}{{Inflation/fn|US-GDP|group=lower-alpha}}}} in bonds to finish the bridge.<ref>{{Cite news |date=April 12, 1917 |title=Connecting Co. Bond Issue; Application Made for $1,500,000 to Finish Hell Gate Bridge. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1917/04/12/archives/connecting-co-bond-issue-application-made-for-1500000-to-finish.html |access-date=March 1, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=March 1, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240301200606/https://www.nytimes.com/1917/04/12/archives/connecting-co-bond-issue-application-made-for-1500000-to-finish.html |url-status=live}}</ref> The bridge started carrying other routes in late 1917, such as the PRR's ''[[Colonial (PRR train)|Colonial Express]],'' the ''[[Washington-Bar Harbor Express]]'',<ref>{{Cite news |date=April 18, 1917 |title=More Hell Gate Trains; The Colonial Express and Bar Harbor Trains to Run Over New Route. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1917/04/18/archives/more-hell-gate-trains-the-colonial-express-and-bar-harbor-trains-to.html |access-date=March 2, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |postscript=none |archive-date=March 1, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240301200703/https://www.nytimes.com/1917/04/18/archives/more-hell-gate-trains-the-colonial-express-and-bar-harbor-trains-to.html |url-status=live}}; {{Cite news |date=April 18, 1917 |title=More Hell Gate Trains |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-more-hell-gate-trains/142525440/ |access-date=March 2, 2024 |work=Times Union |pages=4 |archive-date=March 2, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240302193053/https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-more-hell-gate-trains/142525440/ |url-status=live}}</ref> and a short-lived St. Louis–Pittsburgh–Boston route.<ref>The route lasted two months. See: {{Cite news |date=November 25, 1917 |title=Through Train for Boston Left St. Louis Last Night: First Time the Service Has Been Attempted Over Hell Gate Bridge. |work=St. Louis Post – Dispatch |page=7B |id={{ProQuest|578127040}} |postscript=none}}; {{Cite magazine |date=January 4, 1918 |title=Pennsylvania Will Eliminate 104 Weekday Trains |magazine=Railway Age |page=91 |volume=64 |issue=1 |id={{ProQuest|879777097}}}}</ref> Commuter services continued to run to Grand Central Terminal.<ref>{{Cite news |date=March 8, 1917 |title=Hell Gate Bridge in Use Next Week |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-hell-gate-bridg/142528119/ |access-date=March 2, 2024 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |issn=2577-9397 |pages=17 |archive-date=March 2, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240302205743/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-hell-gate-bridg/142528119/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="p129684267">{{cite news |date=September 24, 1918 |title=Few New Haven Trains Use Pennsylvania Station: Federal Control Has So Far Neglected Opportunity to Increase Usefulness of Huge Capital Investment |work=The Wall Street Journal |page=5 |issn=0099-9660 |id={{ProQuest|129684267}}}}</ref> Though the bridge only carried rail traffic when it opened, it could also be adapted for pedestrian and car traffic.<ref name="nyt-1941-07-13">{{Cite news |last=Bennett |first=Charles G. |date=July 13, 1941 |title=New Bridges Busy; They Speed City Traffic and Add to the Beauty of Surrounding Waters |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1941/07/13/archives/new-bridges-busy-they-speed-city-traffic-and-add-to-the-beauty-of.html |access-date=March 4, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=March 4, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240304021950/https://www.nytimes.com/1941/07/13/archives/new-bridges-busy-they-speed-city-traffic-and-add-to-the-beauty-of.html |url-status=live}}</ref> By the end of 1917, all four tracks were complete,<ref name="n142522256">{{Cite news |date=December 27, 1917 |title=Hell Gate Bridge Plays Part in Troop Movements |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-hell-gate-bridge-plays-part/142522256/ |access-date=March 2, 2024 |work=Times Union |pages=6 |archive-date=March 2, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240302193101/https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-hell-gate-bridge-plays-part/142522256/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=January 2, 1918 |title=Freight Hauls: Shortened by Use of Hell Gate Bridge to New England |work=Cincinnati Enquirer |page=10 |id={{ProQuest|865340475}}}}</ref> and freight trains began running across the bridge in January 1918.<ref>{{cite news |date=January 17, 1918 |title=Freight by Hellgate Bridge: Route Will Be Opened Today to Speed Traffic to New England. |newspaper=The Washington Post |page=13 |issn=0190-8286 |id={{ProQuest|145661214}} |postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=January 17, 1918 |title=Hell Gate Bridge Opened |work=The Christian Science Monitor |page=9 |issn=0882-7729 |id={{ProQuest|509896338}}}}</ref> At the time, the ''Brooklyn Daily Eagle'' wrote that the bridge would be able to accommodate 240 freight cars daily.<ref>{{Cite news |date=January 25, 1918 |title=240 Freight Cars Through Brooklyn Daily on New Road |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-240-freight-car/142531641/ |access-date=March 2, 2024 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |issn=2577-9397 |pages=3 |archive-date=March 2, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240302205742/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-240-freight-car/142531641/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The passenger tracks were also electrified by 1918.<ref name="RA1918 p. 1367">{{harvnb|Railway Age|1918|ps=.|page=1367}}</ref>

During World War I, when the federal government took control of railroad lines in the U.S., the New York Central began using the Hell Gate Bridge,<ref name="p1113121861a">{{cite news |date=September 17, 1924 |title=Ask Reopening Of Freight Line Over Hell Gate: New York Central Tells Port Authority Restoration of Bridge Roule Would Save $400,000 a Year Could Cut Cost of Food Connecting Railroad's Toll So High Line Has to Use Slow Car Floats |work=The New York Herald, New York Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |page=8 |id={{ProQuest|1113121861}} |postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=September 17, 1924 |title=New Haven Barred Bridge to Central; Both Roads Used Hell Gate Route to Long Island Under Federal Control. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1924/09/17/archives/new-haven-barred-bridge-to-central-both-roads-used-hell-gate-route.html |access-date=March 2, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=March 2, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240302230950/https://www.nytimes.com/1924/09/17/archives/new-haven-barred-bridge-to-central-both-roads-used-hell-gate-route.html |url-status=live}}</ref> allowing Long Island merchants to send products directly to the mainland via any railroad.<ref name="n142555131">{{Cite news |date=September 28, 1925 |title=Port Authorities' Meeting Revives Hope Boro Will Get Adequate Transfer Lines |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-port-authorities-meeting-re/142555131/ |access-date=March 3, 2024 |work=Times Union |pages=19 |archive-date=March 3, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240303203345/https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-port-authorities-meeting-re/142555131/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The bridge was carrying only four passenger trains per day by September 1918, amid the war.<ref name="p129684267" /> The media wrote that, due to its low use, the bridge's construction cost was unlikely to be recouped.<ref name="p129684267" /><ref name="p886557243">{{Cite magazine |date=April 6, 1917 |title=New York a Way Station |magazine=Railway Age Gazette |page=727 |volume=62 |issue=14 |id={{ProQuest|886557243}}}}</ref> As late as 1919, the bridge was still carrying very limited passenger service because of wartime restrictions that diverted train traffic.<ref>{{cite news |date=July 17, 1919 |title=Urge Greater Use of Hell Gate Bridge to Connect N. E. With West |work=The Hartford Courant |page=2 |issn=1047-4153 |id={{ProQuest|556721626}}}}</ref> The New York Central stopped using the bridge in November 1920 after the PRR and NH raised the bridge's freight-transport fees,<ref>{{cite news |date=February 28, 1926 |title=Hell Gate Bridge Toll Excessive, N. Y. C. Charges |work=The New York Herald, New York Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |page=8 |id={{ProQuest|1112733514}}}}</ref> and the New York Central began using car floats to Long Island instead.<ref name="p1113121861a" /><ref name="n142555131" />

=== 1920s proposals ===
[[File:Hell_Gate_Bridge_(246687626).jpg|alt=The Hell Gate Bridge's main span in front of the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge's suspension span, as seen from Hell Gate|thumb|The Hell Gate Bridge's main span in front of the [[Robert F. Kennedy Bridge]]'s suspension span]]
When the [[Triborough Bridge|Triborough (now RFK) Bridge]] nearby was first proposed in 1920, Lindenthal suggested that the Hell Gate Bridge's main span could be retrofitted with an upper deck for vehicular and pedestrian use,<ref>{{cite news |date=February 19, 1920 |title=Tri-Boro Bridge is "Uncalled For", Says Lindenthal |url=http://fultonhistory.com/highlighter/highlight-for-xml?altUrl=http%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FNewspapers%252023%2FBrooklyn%2520NY%2520Greenpoint%2520Daily%2520Star%2FBrooklyn%2520NY%2520Greenpoint%2520Daily%2520Star%25201919-1920%2FBrooklyn%2520NY%2520Greenpoint%2520Daily%2520Star%25201919-1920%2520-%25200795.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240219211935/https://fultonhistory.com/Newspapers%2023/Brooklyn%20NY%20Greenpoint%20Daily%20Star/Brooklyn%20NY%20Greenpoint%20Daily%20Star%201919-1920/Brooklyn%20NY%20Greenpoint%20Daily%20Star%201919-1920%20-%200795.pdf |archive-date=February 19, 2024 |access-date=November 1, 2018 |work=Greenpoint Daily Star |page=1 |via=Fultonhistory.com}}</ref> a proposal that he repeated in 1924.<ref name="nyt-1924-12-07">{{Cite news |date=December 7, 1924 |title=How Triborough Bridge Would Ease Traffic Jam; Proposed Span With Three Arms Needed to Relieve Pressure on Highways of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx and Queens, Engineers Say |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1924/12/07/archives/how-triborough-bridge-would-ease-traffic-jam-proposed-span-with.html |access-date=March 3, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=March 3, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240303012009/https://www.nytimes.com/1924/12/07/archives/how-triborough-bridge-would-ease-traffic-jam-proposed-span-with.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Civic organizations across the city supported the extra deck,<ref name="p1113176830a">{{cite news |date=February 26, 1925 |title=Vehicular Road Planned To Top Hell Gate Span |work=The New York Herald, New York Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |page=29 |id={{ProQuest|1113176830}} |postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=February 25, 1925 |title=Plan Double-deck Hell Gate Bridge for Auto Traffic |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-plan-double-dec/142552992/ |access-date=March 3, 2024 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |issn=2577-9397 |pages=1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-plan-double-dec/142553029/ 2] |archive-date=March 3, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240303012011/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-plan-double-dec/142552992/ |url-status=live}}</ref> and the engineering firm of Robinson and Steinman conducted a study, finding that it was feasible to add the deck.<ref name="n142552936">{{Cite news |date=May 17, 1925 |title=Engineers Urge Highway Deck on Hell Gate Bridge |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-engineers-urge/142552936/ |access-date=March 3, 2024 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |issn=2577-9397 |pages=15 |archive-date=March 3, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240303012009/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-engineers-urge/142552936/ |url-status=live}}</ref> In late 1926, mayor [[Jimmy Walker]] appointed a committee to consider the plan.<ref>{{cite news |date=December 17, 1926 |title=New Auto Bridge? |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/25027944/new_auto_bridge/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181202202642/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/25027944/new_auto_bridge/ |archive-date=December 2, 2018 |access-date=November 1, 2018 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |page=33}}</ref><ref name="n142604665">{{Cite news |date=December 13, 1926 |title=Hell Gate Span as a Vehicular Bridge Is Plan |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-citizen-hell-gate-span-as-a/142604665/ |access-date=March 3, 2024 |work=The Brooklyn Citizen |pages=2 |archive-date=March 3, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240303203347/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-citizen-hell-gate-span-as-a/142604665/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Albert Goldman, the Commissioner of Plant and Structures, estimated that the Hell Gate Bridge only had enough space for five lanes of roadway, so a new bridge would have to be constructed parallel to it.<ref>{{cite news |date=April 23, 1927 |title=Triborough Bridge Objections Refuted |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/25028256/triborough_bridge_objections_refuted/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181202202631/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/25028256/triborough_bridge_objections_refuted/ |archive-date=December 2, 2018 |access-date=November 1, 2018 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |page=36}}</ref> Accordingly, the Triborough Bridge was proposed as an entirely new bridge in March 1927,<ref>{{cite news |date=March 25, 1927 |title=Bridge Linking 3 Boroughs Gets Hearing April 21: Estimate Board Gets Plans for $25.000.000 Span Connecting 125th St.. Manhattan, Queens and Bronx Would Be Be Ready in 4 Years 8 Lanes for Traffic and Foot Paths Proposed: No Rapid Transit Is Included |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |page=18 |id={{ProQuest|1130684844}} |postscript=none}}; {{Cite web |date=March 25, 1927 |title=Tri-borough Bridge To Cost $24,625,000; Goldman Completes Plans, and Estimate Board Sets April 21 for Public Hearing. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1927/03/25/archives/triborough-bridge-to-cost-24625000-goldman-completes-plans-and.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181202202700/https://www.nytimes.com/1927/03/25/archives/triborough-bridge-to-cost-24625000-goldman-completes-plans-and.html |archive-date=December 2, 2018 |access-date=October 1, 2018 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> and that span would open in 1936.<ref>{{cite web |date=July 12, 1936 |title=Great Link Is Acclaimed |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1936/07/12/archives/great-link-is-acclaimed-people-demanding-such-uptodate-projects.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181107145618/https://www.nytimes.com/1936/07/12/archives/great-link-is-acclaimed-people-demanding-such-uptodate-projects.html |archive-date=November 7, 2018 |access-date=November 10, 2018 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

Meanwhile, the [[Port of New York Authority]], which sought to increase the number of freight trains that used the Hell Gate Bridge,<ref>{{Cite news |date=June 20, 1924 |title=Port Authority Wants Hell Gate Bridge Put to Use |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-port-authority-wants-hell-ga/142540265/ |access-date=March 2, 2024 |work=Times Union |pages=3 |archive-date=March 2, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240302230950/https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-port-authority-wants-hell-ga/142540265/ |url-status=live}}</ref> hosted hearings in late 1924 to determine whether New York Central freight trains should be allowed to use the bridge,<ref name="p1113121861a" /> The Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce and Long Island shippers endorsed the proposal,<ref>{{Cite news |date=August 3, 1924 |title=Chamber Urges New Freight Link |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-chamber-urges-n/142545851/ |access-date=March 2, 2024 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |issn=2577-9397 |pages=21 |archive-date=March 3, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240303000015/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-chamber-urges-n/142545851/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=September 16, 1924 |title=Shipping Interests Demand the Use of Hell Gate Bridge |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-shipping-intere/142545985/ |access-date=March 2, 2024 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |issn=2577-9397 |pages=22 |archive-date=March 3, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240303000013/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-shipping-intere/142545985/ |url-status=live}}; {{Cite news |date=September 16, 1924 |title=Hell Gate Bridge Asked in Port Plan; Long Island Shippers Want Route Opened to the New York Central. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1924/09/16/archives/hell-gate-bridge-asked-in-port-plan-long-island-shippers-want-route.html |access-date=March 2, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=March 2, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240302230950/https://www.nytimes.com/1924/09/16/archives/hell-gate-bridge-asked-in-port-plan-long-island-shippers-want-route.html |url-status=live}}</ref> while the LIRR, NH, and PRR opposed it.<ref>{{Cite news |date=October 15, 1924 |title=Fights Reopening Hell Gate Route; Long Island Line Opposes Plan to Send the Central's Freight Over Bridge |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1924/10/15/archives/fights-reopening-hell-gate-route-long-island-line-opposes-plan-to.html |access-date=March 2, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |postscript=none |archive-date=March 3, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240303000007/https://www.nytimes.com/1924/10/15/archives/fights-reopening-hell-gate-route-long-island-line-opposes-plan-to.html |url-status=live}}; {{Cite news |date=October 15, 1924 |title=L.I.R.R. Increases Yard Facilities as Probe Starts |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-lirr-increases-yard-faci/142545358/ |access-date=March 2, 2024 |work=Times Union |pages=2 |archive-date=March 3, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240303000012/https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-lirr-increases-yard-faci/142545358/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=October 16, 1924 |title=Rail Freight Line On Hell Gate Bridge Is Held Unnecessary: Hearings Are Closed by Port Authority on Testimony New Haven Can Handle New York Central Cars |work=The New York Herald, New York Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |page=29 |id={{ProQuest|1113043882}}}}</ref> The Port Authority ordered the PRR and NH to allow New York Central trains on the bridge in February 1925.<ref>{{cite news |date=February 16, 1925 |title=Port Authority Opens Hell Gate Span to Central |work=The New York Herald, New York Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |page=24 |id={{ProQuest|1113110013}} |postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=February 16, 1925 |title=Orders Bridge Open to N.Y. Central; Port Authority Tells New Haven and Pennsylvania to Share Hell Gate Span |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1925/02/16/archives/orders-bridge-open-to-ny-central-port-authority-tells-new-haven-and.html |access-date=March 2, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=March 3, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240303000013/https://www.nytimes.com/1925/02/16/archives/orders-bridge-open-to-ny-central-port-authority-tells-new-haven-and.html |url-status=live}}</ref> The order was modified to exclude freight to and from New England,<ref>{{cite news |date=March 14, 1925 |title=Roads Deadlock On Plan to Use Hell Gate Span: Time Allowed by Port Authority for Central and Pennsylvania to Agree Expires Without Results |work=The New York Herald, New York Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |page=18 |id={{ProQuest|1112948947}} |postscript=none}}; {{Cite magazine |date=March 14, 1925 |title=Hell Gate Bridge Decision Modified |magazine=Railway Age |page=763 |volume=78 |issue=15 |id={{ProQuest|873968710}}}}</ref> but the PRR and NH still refused to allow the New York Central to use the bridge after thirty days.<ref>{{Cite news |date=March 20, 1925 |title=Cohen Acts to Open Hell Gate Bridge as Freight Artery |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-cohen-acts-to-o/142603438/ |access-date=March 3, 2024 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |issn=2577-9397 |pages=3 |archive-date=March 3, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240303203348/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-cohen-acts-to-o/142603438/ |url-status=live}}</ref> A spur route from the bridge, which would have allowed trains from the Bronx to travel to a new terminal in [[Long Island City]], was proposed the same year.<ref>{{Cite news |date=October 1, 1925 |title=Ask Queens Station as Commuter Base; Harkness Suggests Terminal for Westchester Travelers in Long Island City |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1925/10/01/archives/ask-queens-station-as-commuter-base-harkness-suggests-terminal-for.html |access-date=February 24, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |postscript=none |archive-date=February 24, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240224233126/https://www.nytimes.com/1925/10/01/archives/ask-queens-station-as-commuter-base-harkness-suggests-terminal-for.html |url-status=live}}; {{Cite news |date=September 30, 1925 |title=Plan $10,000,000 Long Island City Commuter Station |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-plan-1000000/142540497/ |access-date=March 2, 2024 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |issn=2577-9397 |pages=27, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-plan-1000000/142543342/ 28] |archive-date=March 2, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240302230951/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-plan-1000000/142540497/ |url-status=live}}</ref> PRR officials opposed the plan because it would strain the capacity of the bridge's two western tracks,<ref>{{Cite news |date=October 22, 1925 |title=Harkness Rail Plan Opposed at Hearing; Counsel for Port Authority Says It Would Conflict With Hell Gate Freight Traffic |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1925/10/22/archives/harkness-rail-plan-opposed-at-hearing-counsel-for-port-authority.html |access-date=February 24, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=February 24, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240224233126/https://www.nytimes.com/1925/10/22/archives/harkness-rail-plan-opposed-at-hearing-counsel-for-port-authority.html |url-status=live}}</ref> and ultimately the spur was canceled.<ref>{{Cite news |date=November 13, 1925 |title=Commuter Terminal Plan is Agreed on; Harkness Says Commission Is Ready to Build Station for the Long Island Alone. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1925/11/13/archives/commuter-terminal-plan-is-agreed-on-harkness-says-commission-is.html |access-date=March 3, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=March 3, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240303203347/https://www.nytimes.com/1925/11/13/archives/commuter-terminal-plan-is-agreed-on-harkness-says-commission-is.html |url-status=live}}</ref> By the end of 1925, the bridge was carrying 1,200 freight cars per day.<ref name="p511729023">{{cite news |date=December 11, 1925 |title=Kaufman Act to Be Obeyed: New Haven Road Says It Will Float Freight Pend- Ing Electrification |work=The Christian Science Monitor |page=4B |issn=0882-7729 |id={{ProQuest|511729023}} |postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=December 12, 1925 |title=New Haven to Use Car Floats to Keep Within Electric Law: Road to Comply. With Kaufman Act, Effective Jan. 1, by Sending Hell Gate's Freight Traffic by Water |work=The New York Herald, New York Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |page=2 |id={{ProQuest|1113169584}}}}</ref>

In early 1926, the Port Authority asked the [[Interstate Commerce Commission]] (ICC) to allow all freight trains on the bridge.<ref>{{cite news |date=February 26, 1926 |title=Port Authority for Open Hell Gate Route: Cites Principles of Comprehensive Plan Which Demand Open Route—9 Miles Shorter Than Carfloat Route |work=The Wall Street Journal |page=3 |issn=0099-9660 |id={{ProQuest|130361155}} |postscript=none}}; {{cite news |date=February 26, 1926 |title=Seek Opening Of Rail Lines Over Hell Gate: Shippers and Port Authority Would Have I. C. C. Grant Rights to All Roads to All-Rail Route |work=The New York Herald, New York Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |page=29 |id={{ProQuest|1112844706}} |postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=February 26, 1926 |title=Acts to Open Up Hell Gate Bridge; Port Authority Wants Tracks Put at Disposal of All Freight to Long Island |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1926/02/26/archives/acts-to-open-up-hell-gate-bridge-port-authority-wants-tracks-put-at.html |access-date=March 3, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=March 3, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240303203346/https://www.nytimes.com/1926/02/26/archives/acts-to-open-up-hell-gate-bridge-port-authority-wants-tracks-put-at.html |url-status=live}}</ref> The PRR and NH again opposed the move,<ref>{{cite news |date=February 27, 1926 |title=Hell Gate Line Fights Bridge Use by Central: New Haven and Pennsylvania Balk at Port Authority Plan to Open All Rail Route to Competing Road Shippers Favor Proposal Commerce and Public Service Boards Told Industries Would Be Helped |work=The New York Herald, New York Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |page=5 |id={{ProQuest|1112718863}} |postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=March 25, 1926 |title=Port Heads Finish Bridge Testimony; Railroads to Begin Their Fight Today to Prevent Central Route Over Hell Gate |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1926/03/25/archives/port-heads-finish-bridge-testimony-railroads-to-begin-their-fight.html |access-date=March 3, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=March 3, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240303203346/https://www.nytimes.com/1926/03/25/archives/port-heads-finish-bridge-testimony-railroads-to-begin-their-fight.html |url-status=live}}</ref> and the PRR argued that allowing other railroads' trains on the bridge would discourage railroads from improving routes used by competitors.<ref>{{Cite news |date=March 26, 1926 |title=Opposes Opening of Hell Gate Span; Pennsylvania Executive Says It Would Have Adverse Effect on Other Terminal Plans. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1926/03/26/archives/opposes-opening-of-hell-gate-span-pennsylvania-executive-says-it.html |access-date=March 3, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |postscript=none |archive-date=March 3, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240303203348/https://www.nytimes.com/1926/03/26/archives/opposes-opening-of-hell-gate-span-pennsylvania-executive-says-it.html |url-status=live}}; {{cite news |date=March 26, 1926 |title=P. R. R. Criticizes Central's Stand On Hell Gate Span: Vice-President County Tells I. C. C. Improvements Would be Discouraged if Rivals Are Allowed Its Use |work=The New York Herald, New York Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |page=17 |id={{ProQuest|1112745474}} |postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=March 27, 1926 |title=Asks Railroads to Share Bridge: Port Authority Would Route New York Central Over Hell Gate Span |work=The Christian Science Monitor |page=5A |issn=0882-7729 |id={{ProQuest|511852249}}}}</ref> ICC examiners recommended opening the bridge only to freight trains toward Long Island;<ref name="p557341351">{{cite news |date=April 15, 1927 |title=New Effort to Open Hell Gate Bridge To All Rail Traffic |work=The Hartford Courant |page=12 |issn=1047-4153 |id={{ProQuest|557341351}}}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=February 10, 1927 |title=I. C. C. Aid Asks Joint Hell Gate Bridge Tariff: Would Open Pennsylvania and New Haven Structure to Inbound Traffic Over Competing Railroads |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |page=25 |id={{ProQuest|1113618392}}}}</ref> at the time, traffic to Long Island constituted 88 percent of the island's freight traffic volume.<ref>{{Cite news |date=February 10, 1927 |title=Quicker Freight to Queens and Brooklyn Near |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-quicker-freight/142611089/ |access-date=March 3, 2024 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |issn=2577-9397 |pages=3 |archive-date=March 3, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240303220744/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-quicker-freight/142611089/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The Port Authority continued to advocate for allowing all railroads to use the bridge in both directions.<ref name="p557341351" /><ref>{{Cite news |date=April 15, 1927 |title=Urges Public Right in Hell Gate Bridge; Port Authority Files Brief With I.C.C., Opposing Report of Examiner |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1927/04/15/archives/urges-public-right-in-hell-gate-bridge-port-authority-files-brief.html |access-date=March 3, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |postscript=none |archive-date=March 3, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240303220742/https://www.nytimes.com/1927/04/15/archives/urges-public-right-in-hell-gate-bridge-port-authority-files-brief.html |url-status=live}}; {{Cite news |date=April 15, 1927 |title=Urges Public Right in Hell Gate Span |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-urges-public-right-in-hell-g/142613401/ |access-date=March 3, 2024 |work=Times Union |pages=11 |archive-date=March 3, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240303220742/https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-urges-public-right-in-hell-g/142613401/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The freight tracks were electrified in 1927.<ref name="REE1928 p. 397">{{harvnb|Railway Electrical Engineer|1928|ps=.|page=397}}</ref><ref name="p896297024">{{Cite magazine |date=July 1, 1927 |title=Electric power in steam railroad service: Developments in electric rolling stock and lighting equipment discussed at Montreal |magazine=Railway Mechanical Engineer |pages=479 |id={{ProQuest|896297024}}}}</ref> The Port Authority also asked the ICC to lower the fees charged on freight trains using the bridge. The ICC ruled in 1928 that the railroads were not required to lower their rates but that they were required to allow other railroads to use the bridge during emergencies or when other routes were congested.<ref>{{cite news |date=June 21, 1928 |title=Long Island Shippers Lose: Port Authority's Plea for Hell Gate Bridge Routes Rejected by Commerce Commission |work=The Wall Street Journal |page=15 |issn=0099-9660 |id={{ProQuest|130559335}} |postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=June 21, 1928 |title=Refuses Joint Rate by Hell Gate Route; I.C.C. Decides Against Port Authority in Petition for Long Island Freight |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1928/06/21/archives/refuses-joint-rate-by-hell-gate-route-icc-decides-against-port.html |access-date=March 3, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=March 3, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240303220742/https://www.nytimes.com/1928/06/21/archives/refuses-joint-rate-by-hell-gate-route-icc-decides-against-port.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

=== 1930s to 1960s ===
[[File:Boxcabs under the wires (inside the bridge) (51282999984).jpg|thumb|upright|A freight train on the bridge, 1948]]
By 1932, residents of Long Island were advocating for the construction of a second rail link between their island and the Bronx, due to the lack of direct freight service to eastern Long Island via the Hell Gate Bridge.<ref name="p1114851555">{{cite news |date=August 16, 1932 |title=Bronx-Nassau Rail Link Asked For 6,000,000: Long Island Villages Urge State to Make Nine Roads Provide Direct Service Also Seek Upstate Outlet Say Roundabout Trips Now Cost Time and Boost Fare |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |page=16 |id={{ProQuest|1114851555}}}}</ref> The same year, the ICC hosted hearings over whether to run passenger trains over the bridge between eastern Long Island and New England;<ref name="n142619547">{{Cite news |date=November 22, 1932 |title=Service Is Asked for L.I.R.R. Over Hell Gate Bridge |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-service-is-asked-for-lirr/142619547/ |access-date=March 3, 2024 |work=Times Union |pages=9 |postscript=none |archive-date=March 4, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240304001130/https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-service-is-asked-for-lirr/142619547/ |url-status=live}}; {{Cite news |date=November 22, 1932 |title=Hell Gate Service Plea Given Hearing |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-hell-gate-servi/142619518/ |access-date=March 3, 2024 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |issn=2577-9397 |pages=24 |archive-date=March 4, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240304001120/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-hell-gate-servi/142619518/ |url-status=live}}</ref> the ICC ultimately rejected a Long Island–New England passenger train as impractical, inconvenient, and of little benefit.<ref name="nyt-1933-08-26">{{Cite news |date=August 26, 1933 |title=New England Line Denied to Nassau; I.C.C. Dismisses Long Islanders' Plea for Through Passenger Train Route |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1933/08/26/archives/new-england-line-denied-to-nassau-icc-dismisses-long-island-ers.html |access-date=March 3, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |postscript=none |archive-date=March 4, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240304001121/https://www.nytimes.com/1933/08/26/archives/new-england-line-denied-to-nassau-icc-dismisses-long-island-ers.html |url-status=live}}; {{Cite news |last=Manning |first=George H. |date=August 26, 1933 |title=Hell Gate Route Asked by Nassau Rejected by I.C.C. |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-standard-star-hell-gate-route-asked/142620772/ |access-date=March 3, 2024 |work=The Standard-Star |pages=1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-standard-star-hell-gate-route-asked/142620922/ 2] |archive-date=March 4, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240304001124/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-standard-star-hell-gate-route-asked/142620772/ |url-status=live}}</ref> In 1934, the NH put up its share of the bridge as [[Collateral (finance)|collateral]] for a $6 million{{efn-lr|About ${{Inflation|index=US-GDP|start_year=1934|value=6|fmt=c}} million in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}{{Inflation/fn|US-GDP|group=lower-alpha}}}} loan from the [[Reconstruction Finance Corporation]]. The NH was allowed to take back its portion of the bridge even if the RFC foreclosed on the loan;<ref name="p181629939">{{cite news |date=December 1, 1934 |title=RFC Gets Hell Gate Bridge as Collateral on New Haven Loan |work=Chicago Tribune |page=21 |issn=1085-6706 |id={{ProQuest|181629939}} |postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=December 2, 1934 |title=Half of Hell Gate Bridge Put Up as RFC Collateral |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-half-of-hell-ga/142623173/ |access-date=March 4, 2024 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |issn=2577-9397 |pages=38 |postscript=none |archive-date=March 4, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240304001121/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-half-of-hell-ga/142623173/ |url-status=live}}; {{Cite news |date=December 1, 1934 |title=Hell Gate Bridge is Pledged for Loan; RFC Accepts New Haven's Interest in Span to Back $6,000,000 Advance. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1934/12/01/archives/hell-gate-bridge-is-pledged-for-loan-rfc-accepts-new-havens.html |access-date=March 3, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=March 4, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240304001120/https://www.nytimes.com/1934/12/01/archives/hell-gate-bridge-is-pledged-for-loan-rfc-accepts-new-havens.html |url-status=live}}</ref> the NH declared bankruptcy the next year, remaining under [[trusteeship]] until 1947.<ref name="Northeast Corridor Improvement Project, Electrification, New Haven to Boston [CT,MA]: Environmental Impact Statement 1994 p. 3-PA25">{{cite book | title=Northeast Corridor Improvement Project, Electrification, New Haven to Boston [CT,MA]: Environmental Impact Statement | issue=v. 1 | year=1994 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vZ42AQAAMAAJ&pg=SA3-PA25 | access-date=May 5, 2024 | page=3.25}}</ref>

During World War II, in 1940, officials disarmed a live bomb under the Hell Gate Bridge.<ref name="p151278527">{{cite news |date=September 14, 1940 |title=Bomb Found Beneath Vital Hell Gate Bridge |newspaper=The Washington Post |page=1 |issn=0190-8286 |id={{ProQuest|151278527}}}}</ref> The bridge's economic value made it a target of [[Operation Pastorius]], a Nazi sabotage plan,<ref>{{cite book |last1=MacDonnell |first1=Frances |title=Insidious Foes: The Axis Fifth Column and the American Home Front |url=https://archive.org/details/insidiousfoesaxi00macd |url-access=limited |date=November 2, 1995 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-1950-9268-6 |page=[https://archive.org/details/insidiousfoesaxi00macd/page/n151 131]}}</ref> which was thwarted in 1942.<ref name="p1256915976">{{cite news |date=June 28, 1942 |title=Nazis Cached Explosives at Amagansett: Carried $150,000 for 2 Years of Destruction From N. Y. to Mid-West Planned to Blow Up N. Y. |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |page=1 |id={{ProQuest|1256915976}} |postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |last=Lissner |first=Will |date=June 28, 1942 |title=Invaders Confess; Had TNT to Blast Key Factories, Railroads and City Water System |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1942/06/28/archives/invaders-confess-had-tnt-to-blast-key-factories-railroads-and-city.html |access-date=March 4, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=March 4, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240304021956/https://www.nytimes.com/1942/06/28/archives/invaders-confess-had-tnt-to-blast-key-factories-railroads-and-city.html |url-status=live}}</ref> The NYCR began leasing out land around the bridge's approach viaducts to nearby property owners in the 1940s.<ref name="Gannon 2016 t043" /> The property owners paid an annual fee and were obliged to maintain the land.<ref name="Gannon 2016 t043">{{cite web |last=Gannon |first=Michael |date=September 1, 2016 |title=Astoria residents hit with Amtrak hikes |url=https://www.qchron.com/editions/western/astoria-residents-hit-with-amtrak-hikes/article_b56bf215-5421-5f12-b6eb-74d2ddfb14b9.html |access-date=February 26, 2024 |website=Queens Chronicle |archive-date=February 26, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240226225831/https://www.qchron.com/editions/western/astoria-residents-hit-with-amtrak-hikes/article_b56bf215-5421-5f12-b6eb-74d2ddfb14b9.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="n142906312">{{Cite news |last=Gentile |first=Don |date=October 11, 1977 |title=Hell Gate Brim Stony |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-hell-gate-brim-stony/142906312/ |access-date=March 8, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |pages=412 |archive-date=March 8, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240308011346/https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-hell-gate-brim-stony/142906312/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Additionally, passengers had to pay a surcharge on tickets for train trips that used the bridge, unless they were traveling to or from New York City; the surcharge had resulted an estimated $20.9 million{{efn-lr|About ${{Inflation|index=US-GDP|start_year=1950|value=20.9|fmt=c}} million in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}{{Inflation/fn|US-GDP|group=lower-alpha}}}} in revenue for the bridge from 1920 to 1950.<ref name="nyt-1951-12-20">{{Cite news |date=December 20, 1951 |title=I.C.C. Orders Inquiry on 90c Extra Fare On Certain Trips Over Hell Gate Bridge |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1951/12/20/archives/icc-orders-inquiry-on-90c-extra-fare-on-certain-trips-over-hell.html |access-date=March 2, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=March 2, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240302230950/https://www.nytimes.com/1951/12/20/archives/icc-orders-inquiry-on-90c-extra-fare-on-certain-trips-over-hell.html |url-status=live}}</ref> The surcharge prompted investigations from the ICC in the mid-1940s and again in 1951,<ref name="p1237390911">{{cite news |date=December 20, 1951 |title=90-Cent Hell Gate Bridge Toll, In Effect 31 Years, Faces Inquiry |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |page=29 |id={{ProQuest|1237390911}} |postscript=none}}</ref> but the surcharge was upheld both times.<ref name="p882979990" />

Train traffic in the U.S. started to decrease in the mid-20th century as a result of increased automobile usage. This adversely affected both of the NYCR's co-owners and caused the bridge to fall into disrepair.<ref name="Healy 2016 i391">{{cite web |last=Healy |first=Ryan |date=February 22, 2016 |title=The Strange History Of NYC's Mighty Hell Gate |url=https://gothamist.com/news/the-strange-history-of-nycs-mighty-hell-gate |access-date=March 7, 2024 |website=Gothamist |archive-date=March 8, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240308222724/https://gothamist.com/news/the-strange-history-of-nycs-mighty-hell-gate |url-status=live}}</ref> The NH had declared bankruptcy in 1961<ref name="Northeast Corridor Improvement Project, Electrification, New Haven to Boston [CT,MA]: Environmental Impact Statement 1994 p. 3-PA25"/><ref name="Middleton Smerk Diehl 2007 p. 331">{{harvnb|Middleton|Smerk|Diehl|2007|ps=.|page=331}}</ref> but continued to own a 50% stake in the bridge.<ref name="p179078084">{{cite news |last=Clark |first=William |date=October 21, 1966 |title=Chicago Bondholders, Will File Own Plan for New Haven Sale: Chicagoans Say Plan Would Sell Rail Short |work=Chicago Tribune |page=E7 |issn=1085-6706 |id={{ProQuest|179078084}}}}</ref> A feasibility study on the possible [[liquidation]] of the NH found that the bridge's [[salvage value]] was equal to the theoretical cost of demolition.<ref name="n142898712">{{Cite news |date=January 31, 1967 |title=Superhighway Urged in Place of New Haven's Harlem Line |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/mount-vernon-argus-superhighway-urged-in/142898712/ |access-date=March 7, 2024 |work=Mount Vernon Argus |pages=17 |archive-date=March 7, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240307233658/https://www.newspapers.com/article/mount-vernon-argus-superhighway-urged-in/142898712/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The PRR's own issues compelled it to merge with New York Central in 1968, forming the [[Penn Central Transportation Company]],<ref name="Daughen Binzen 1999 p.">{{cite book |last1=Daughen |first1=J.R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5ur402YHf7gC |title=The Wreck of the Penn Central |last2=Binzen |first2=P. |publisher=Beard Books |year=1999 |isbn=978-1-893122-08-6 |page=4 |access-date=March 8, 2024 |archive-date=March 8, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240308062316/https://books.google.com/books?id=5ur402YHf7gC |url-status=live}}</ref> which also included the NH.<ref name="Middleton Smerk Diehl 2007 p. 332"/> Penn Central itself [[Bankruptcy of Penn Central|filed for bankruptcy]] in 1970<ref name="Healy 2016 i391" /> and was absorbed by [[Conrail]] in 1976.<ref name="Middleton Smerk Diehl 2007 p. 332">{{harvnb|Middleton|Smerk|Diehl|2007|ps=.|page=332}}</ref>

During the 1960s and early 1970s, there were suggestions to transfer ownership of the bridge to the [[New York City Transit Authority]]<ref name="n142898712" /> and to run commuter rail across the bridge.<ref name="p899011711" /><ref name="n142899845">{{Cite news |date=November 19, 1973 |title=DelBello asks rail service to Penn Sta. |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-standard-star-delbello-asks-rail-ser/142899845/ |access-date=March 7, 2024 |work=The Standard-Star |pages=11 |postscript=none |archive-date=March 7, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240307233705/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-standard-star-delbello-asks-rail-ser/142899845/ |url-status=live}}; {{Cite news |last=Hudson |first=Edward |date=June 9, 1973 |title=A New Rail Link Sought for Bronx |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/06/09/archives/a-new-rail-link-sought-for-bronx-3-officials-propose-use-of-the.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180204154607/http://www.nytimes.com/1973/06/09/archives/a-new-rail-link-sought-for-bronx-3-officials-propose-use-of-the.html |archive-date=February 4, 2018 |access-date=December 25, 2016 |newspaper=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> In addition, there had been concerns about the bridge's upkeep as early as 1967, when debris from the bridge fell to the ground near [[Astoria Park]].<ref name="p278397980">{{cite news |last=Moss |first=Michael |date=July 17, 1991 |title=City: Hell Gate Bridge Is One Heck of a Mess |work=Newsday |page=20 |issn=2574-5298 |id={{ProQuest|278397980}}}}</ref> The freight tracks were de-electrified in 1969.<ref name=":1" />

=== 1970s to 1990s ===
[[File:Hell_Gate_Bridge-_I._Central_Steel_Arch_over_East_River_looking_toward_west_from_Astoria_Park,_Queens,_Queens_(NYPL_b13668355-482577).jpg|alt=Grayscale image of the main span as seen from immediately beside it, within Astoria Park. Trees in foreground of bridge in bloom, Triborough Bridge and Manhattan visible beyond.|thumb|The main span as seen from immediately beside it, within [[Astoria Park]]]]
The New Jersey car float was closed for an extended period during the 1970s, making the Hell Gate Bridge the only way for freight trains to get to and from Long Island during that time.<ref name="p123076962">{{cite news |last=Burks |first=Edward C. |date=November 5, 1976 |title=Rail-Car Floating: a Chancy Business |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |page=28 |id={{ProQuest|123076962}} |postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |last=Morris |first=Tom |date=October 18, 1978 |title=Piggyback Freight Center Eyed |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-suffolk-edition-piggyback-frei/142902558/ |access-date=March 7, 2024 |work=Newsday |pages=7, 28 |archive-date=March 7, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240307233942/https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-suffolk-edition-piggyback-frei/142902558/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="p964853600">{{cite news |last=Morris |first=Tom |date=October 18, 1978 |title=Rail Freight Revival for City |work=Newsday |page= |pages=19, 23 |issn=2574-5298 |id={{ProQuest|964853600}}}}</ref> One of the bridge's freight tracks was abandoned during that decade as well.<ref name="Healy 2016 i391" /> The lack of rail crossings of the [[Hudson River]], to the west, also meant that freight trains from Long Island had to [[Selkirk hurdle|detour to upstate New York]] just to travel west or south.<ref name="p964853600" /> Freight trains from the west also had to make several tight turns to reach the Hell Gate Bridge.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Halbfinger |first=David M. |date=October 12, 1998 |title=20 Years in the Making, Rail Freight Link Opens in Bronx |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/10/12/nyregion/20-years-in-the-making-rail-freight-link-opens-in-bronx.html |access-date=March 8, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=February 26, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240226004610/https://www.nytimes.com/1998/10/12/nyregion/20-years-in-the-making-rail-freight-link-opens-in-bronx.html |url-status=live}}</ref> New York state voters approved a bond issue in 1974, which provided $250 million{{efn-lr|About ${{Inflation|index=US-GDP|start_year=1974|value=250|fmt=c}} million in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}{{Inflation/fn|US-GDP|group=lower-alpha}}}} for numerous upgrades to New York City's railroads.<ref name="nyt-1974-11-07">{{Cite news |last=Burks |first=Edward C. |date=November 7, 1974 |title=State Rail Bond Issue Is Expected to First Help Commuter and Intercity Service |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/11/07/archives/state-rail-bond-issue-is-expected-to-first-help-commuter-and.html |access-date=March 7, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=March 7, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240307233729/https://www.nytimes.com/1974/11/07/archives/state-rail-bond-issue-is-expected-to-first-help-commuter-and.html |url-status=live}}</ref> The upgrades included modifications to allow [[Double-stack rail transport|double-stack]] freight trains to use the Hell Gate Bridge, thereby reducing the need for cargo trucks to travel through the city.<ref name="nyt-1974-11-07" /><ref name="n142901870">{{Cite news |last=Henry |first=John |date=March 9, 1975 |title=City Taking Steps to Revive Rail Freight Service |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-city-taking-steps-to-revive-r/142901870/ |access-date=March 7, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |pages=99 |archive-date=March 7, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240307233700/https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-city-taking-steps-to-revive-r/142901870/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Amtrak]] took over the bridge itself, and the passenger services that used it, by 1975,<ref name="n142901274">{{Cite news |last=Oreskes |first=Michael |date=June 19, 1975 |title=Crushed Car Brings Outcry on Dangers of Bridge |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-crushed-car-brings-outcry-on/142901274/ |access-date=March 7, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |pages=313 |archive-date=March 7, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240307233720/https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-crushed-car-brings-outcry-on/142901274/ |url-status=live}}</ref> while Conrail began operating additional freight trains over it during the same decade.<ref name="nyt-1976-04-04">{{Cite news |last=Burks |first=Edward C. |date=April 4, 1976 |title=Waiting for the ConRail Express |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/04/04/archives/long-island-weekly-waiting-for-the-conrail-express.html |access-date=March 7, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=March 7, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240307233657/https://www.nytimes.com/1976/04/04/archives/long-island-weekly-waiting-for-the-conrail-express.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Healy 2016 i391" /> Vandals frequently threw rocks from the bridge and set fires, which had prompted Penn Central, and later Amtrak, to increase security on the bridge.<ref name="n142901274" /> By the late 1970s, debris was falling from the approach viaducts.<ref name="n142906312" /><ref name="p278274630">{{cite news |date=May 22, 1990 |title=Queens Closeup / Manhattan Closeup Amtrak: Hell Gate Not Falling Down 73-year-old Bridge is Rusted but Safe, Rail Officials Say |work=Newsday |page=23 |issn=2574-5298 |id={{ProQuest|278274630}}}}</ref> Due to poor drainage, water had seeped through the viaducts, causing rocks to come loose.<ref name="n142909141">{{Cite news |last=Murray |first=Alice |date=May 23, 1980 |title=Hell Gate Viaduct: Relief is in sight |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-hell-gate-viaduct-relief-is/142909141/ |access-date=March 8, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |pages=897 |archive-date=April 4, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240404034652/https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-hell-gate-viaduct-relief-is/142909141/ |url-status=live }}</ref> City councilman [[Peter Vallone Sr.]] and U.S. representative [[Mario Biaggi]] advocated for Amtrak to repair the viaducts, saying the conditions threatened local residents' lives.<ref name="n142909141" /> Amtrak started repairing the viaducts in 1978 but paused the repairs the next year.<ref name="n142906827">{{Cite news |last=Leahy |first=Jack |date=August 28, 1979 |title=Vallone: Fix viaduct before it kills |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-vallone-fix-viaduct-before-i/142906827/ |access-date=March 8, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |pages=370 |archive-date=March 8, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240308011304/https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-vallone-fix-viaduct-before-i/142906827/ |url-status=live}}</ref> When the project resumed in 1980,<ref name="n142908484">{{Cite news |last=Hanrahan |first=Thomas |date=February 12, 1980 |title=Hell Gate viaduct imperiling cleanup |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-hell-gate-viaduct-imperiling/142908484/ |access-date=March 8, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |pages=386 |archive-date=March 8, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240308011310/https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-hell-gate-viaduct-imperiling/142908484/ |url-status=live}}</ref> workers added welded steel plates on the trackbeds to prevent objects from falling.<ref>{{Cite news |date=April 30, 1980 |title=All's well that ends weld |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-alls-well-that-ends-weld/142908000/ |access-date=March 8, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |pages=750 |archive-date=March 8, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240308011308/https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-alls-well-that-ends-weld/142908000/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Even after the repairs were finished, local residents continued to express concerns about the viaduct's structural integrity.<ref name="n142908086">{{Cite news |last1=Rabin |first1=Bernard |last2=Meskil |first2=Paul |date=July 25, 1984 |title=Fear death from above |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-fear-death-from-above/142908086/ |access-date=March 8, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |pages=287 |archive-date=March 8, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240308011316/https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-fear-death-from-above/142908086/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="n142911299">{{Cite news |last=Jamieson |first=Wendell |date=July 7, 1988 |title=Debris From Bridge Still Falls on Astoria |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-debris-from-bridge-still-falls-o/142911299/ |access-date=March 8, 2024 |work=Newsday |pages=33 |archive-date=March 8, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240308011923/https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-debris-from-bridge-still-falls-o/142911299/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Additionally, the bridge's paint was peeling off by the late 1980s.<ref name="NYT-Kilgannon" /><ref name="n142910354">{{Cite news |last=Peters |first=James |date=June 20, 1988 |title=Vallone urges RRs to fix-up Hell Gate Bridge |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-vallone-urges-rrs-to-fix-up-h/142910354/ |access-date=March 8, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |pages=302 |archive-date=March 8, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240308011328/https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-vallone-urges-rrs-to-fix-up-h/142910354/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Sources disagree on whether the bridge had last been repainted in 1939<ref name="n142910926" /> or whether it had never been repainted at all;<ref name="n142911299" /><ref name="n142910354" /> in either case, Amtrak's own vice president said the bridge should have been repainted three times in the previous half-century.<ref name="n142910926">{{Cite news |date=November 2, 1988 |title=Meeting to Discuss the Fate of Hell Gate Bridge |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-meeting-to-discuss-the-fate-of-h/142910926/ |access-date=March 8, 2024 |work=Newsday |pages=34 |archive-date=March 8, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240308011324/https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-meeting-to-discuss-the-fate-of-h/142910926/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

Vallone asked the federal government to fix the bridge after falling debris broke a car's window in 1988.<ref name="p278274630" /> Vallone and U.S. senator [[Daniel Patrick Moynihan]] requested that Amtrak devise a plan for repairing the bridge,<ref name="nyt-1988-09-11">{{Cite news |date=September 11, 1988 |title=Queens Rail Bridge Criticized |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/09/11/nyregion/queens-rail-bridge-criticized.html |access-date=March 8, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |postscript=none |agency=The Associated Press |archive-date=March 8, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240308011303/https://www.nytimes.com/1988/09/11/nyregion/queens-rail-bridge-criticized.html |url-status=live}}; {{Cite news |date=September 11, 1988 |title=Hell Gate's in heck of fix |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-hell-gates-in-heck-of-fix/142910475/ |access-date=March 8, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |pages=5 |archive-date=March 8, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240308011330/https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-hell-gates-in-heck-of-fix/142910475/ |url-status=live}}</ref> though Amtrak officials denied that there was deterioration.<ref name="n142910926" /><ref name="n142910708">{{Cite news |last=Peters |first=James |date=July 18, 1988 |title=Bridge OK, Vallone told |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-bridge-ok-vallone-told/142910708/ |access-date=March 8, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |pages=221 |archive-date=March 8, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240308011322/https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-bridge-ok-vallone-told/142910708/ |url-status=live}}</ref> ''The New York Times'' described the bridge in 1991 as "a flaking and crumbling symbol of [[urban decay]] and decline".<ref name="nyt-1991-11-30">{{Cite news |last=Gruson |first=Lindsey |date=November 30, 1991 |title=Long Unlucky, Rail Bridge Hits $55 Million Repair Jackpot |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/11/30/nyregion/long-unlucky-rail-bridge-hits-55-million-repair-jackpot.html |access-date=March 1, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=November 13, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131113085635/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/11/30/nyregion/long-unlucky-rail-bridge-hits-55-million-repair-jackpot.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Moynihan convened a [[United States Senate]] hearing in 1990 after attempting to contact Amtrak officials about the bridge; at the hearing, Amtrak officials testified that the bridge did not need repainting.<ref name="p278274630" /><ref>{{Cite news |date=May 17, 1990 |title=They brush on painting Hell Gate Bridge |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-they-brush-on-painting-hell-g/142944883/ |access-date=March 8, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |pages=486 |archive-date=March 8, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240308180836/https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-they-brush-on-painting-hell-g/142944883/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The officials also estimated the cost of repainting at $43 million,{{efn-lr|About ${{Inflation|index=US-GDP|start_year=1993|value=43|fmt=c}} million in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}{{Inflation/fn|US-GDP|group=lower-alpha}}}} though Moynihan disputed these estimates.<ref name="p278274630" /> By then, city officials had issued several warnings to pedestrians and drivers about the bridge's safety.<ref name="p278372662">{{cite news |last=Queen |first=Joseph W. |date=July 30, 1991 |title=Heads Up! Bad Bridge |work=Newsday |page=27 |issn=2574-5298 |id={{ProQuest|278372662}}}}</ref> The [[United States Congress]] allocated $55 million to renovate the bridge in late 1991,<ref name="nyt-1991-11-30" /><ref name="p278412942">{{cite news |last=Queen |first=Joseph W. |date=December 8, 1991 |title=Queen's Queens Feds Come Through to Save a Treasure |work=Newsday |page=2 |issn=2574-5298 |id={{ProQuest|278412942}}}}</ref> which included $42 million for repainting and $13 million for structural improvements.{{efn-lr|The total cost was about ${{Inflation|index=US-GDP|start_year=1991|value=55|fmt=c}} million in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}. Of this, ${{Inflation|index=US-GDP|start_year=1991|value=42|fmt=c}} million was for repainting, and ${{Inflation|index=US-GDP|start_year=1991|value=13|fmt=c}} million was for structural improvements.{{Inflation/fn|US-GDP|group=lower-alpha}}}}<ref name="n142945343">{{Cite news |date=February 22, 1992 |title=Work set to begin on Hell Gate bridge |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/mount-vernon-argus-work-set-to-begin-on/142945343/ |access-date=March 8, 2024 |work=Mount Vernon Argus |pages=13 |archive-date=March 8, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240308180811/https://www.newspapers.com/article/mount-vernon-argus-work-set-to-begin-on/142945343/ |url-status=live}}</ref> In exchange, the [[New York State Department of Transportation]] had to provide [[matching funds]] for 20 percent of the federal allocation. At the time, 20 Amtrak trains used the bridge every day.<ref name="n142945343" />

[[File:Little Hell Gate Bridge with Big Hell Gate Bridge in background. Wards Island, New York Co., NY. Sec. 4207, MP 8.02. - Northeast Railroad Corridor, Amtrak Route between New HAER NY,31-NEYO,167-16.tif|thumb|View of the bridge's Queens approach, main span, Wards Island approach, and Little Hell Gate span as seen from Randalls Island, looking south|alt=Black-and-white view of the bridge as seen from Randalls Island]]

Workers began renovating the bridge in April 1992;<ref name="p428480105">{{cite news |date=April 4, 1992 |title=Officials Kick Off Renovation of Hell Gate Bridge |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |page=1.25 |id={{ProQuest|428480105}}}}</ref> at Moynihan's request, the [[Municipal Art Society]] asked six architects and artists to decide the color in which the bridge should be painted.<ref name="nyt-1992-12-26">{{Cite news |last=Kaufman |first=Michael T. |date=December 26, 1992 |title=About New York; When Made Over, Hell Gate Bridge Won't Clash With East River |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/12/26/nyregion/about-new-york-when-made-over-hell-gate-bridge-won-t-clash-with-east-river.html |access-date=March 8, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=March 8, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240308180811/https://www.nytimes.com/1992/12/26/nyregion/about-new-york-when-made-over-hell-gate-bridge-won-t-clash-with-east-river.html |url-status=live}}</ref> The bridge was repainted a deep red hue known as Hell Gate Red.<ref name="NYT-Kilgannon" /> The paint consisted of two layers of [[epoxy coating]], a urethane layer, and a clear layer to protect against [[ultraviolet]] rays and corrosion.<ref name="In 2024 q032" /><ref name="NYT-Kilgannon" /> Due to a flaw in the paint, the red color began to fade before the work was completed.<ref name="NYT-Kilgannon">{{cite news |last1=Kilgannon |first1=Corey |title=A Bad Impression Outlasts a Bridge's New Paint |url=http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/08/a-bad-impression-outlasts-a-bridges-new-paint/ |access-date=January 10, 2015 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=March 8, 2012 |archive-date=January 10, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150110085337/http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/08/a-bad-impression-outlasts-a-bridges-new-paint/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The repainting was completed in 1996,<ref>{{Cite news |date=December 12, 1996 |title=Re-covered Bridge |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-re-covered-bridge/142952269/ |access-date=March 8, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |pages=615 |archive-date=March 8, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240308193703/https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-re-covered-bridge/142952269/ |url-status=live}}</ref> and graffiti began to appear on the viaducts shortly afterward.<ref name="Greenstein p. 50">{{harvnb|Greenstein|2004|ps=.|page=50}}</ref> Beginning in the 1990s,<ref name="Evelly 2013 x193">{{cite web |last=Evelly |first=Jeanmarie |date=December 25, 2013 |title=Astoria Group Wants to Light Up Hell Gate Bridge |url=https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20131225/astoria/astoria-group-wants-light-up-hell-gate-bridge/ |access-date=March 8, 2024 |website=DNAinfo New York |archive-date=March 8, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240308214839/https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20131225/astoria/astoria-group-wants-light-up-hell-gate-bridge/ |url-status=dead}}</ref> local residents and students painted several murals under the Queens approach viaduct.<ref name="Kern-Jedrychowska 2012 c694">{{cite web |last=Kern-Jedrychowska |first=Ewa |date=August 23, 2012 |title=Greek Gods to Adorn Hell Gate Bridge in New Mural |url=https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20120823/astoria/greek-gods-adorn-hell-gate-bridge-new-mural/ |access-date=March 8, 2024 |website=DNAinfo New York |archive-date=September 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210917184741/https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20120823/astoria/greek-gods-adorn-hell-gate-bridge-new-mural/ |url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Providence and Worcester Railroad]] freight trains carrying stone from quarries in Connecticut began using the bridge in 1996 to reach Long Island.<ref name="Hartley 2016">{{Cite magazine |last=Hartley |first=Scott A. |date=April 2016 |title=The key to Providence & Worcester's success: Reinvention |magazine=[[Trains Magazine]] |page=53 |oclc=945631712}}</ref> The [[Oak Point Link]] near the bridge's Bronx end was completed in 1998, allowing freight trains from the [[Hudson Line (Metro-North)|Hudson Line]] (to the west) to access the bridge without having to make multiple tight turns.<ref name=":2" /><ref name="p203737509">{{cite magazine |last=Greenstein |first=Joe |date=Jul 1999 |title=New York City studies rail freight options |magazine=Railway Age |pages=33–35 |volume=200 |issue=7 |id={{ProQuest|203737509}}}}</ref> In addition, as part of the 1998 [[Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century]], Congress allocated $15 million{{efn-lr|About ${{Inflation|index=US-GDP|start_year=1998|value=15|fmt=c}} million in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}{{Inflation/fn|US-GDP|group=lower-alpha}}}} to repaint the bridge.<ref name="Dao 1998 l5522">{{cite web |last=Dao |first=James |date=May 23, 1998 |title=$200 Billion Bill For Public Works Passed by Congress |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/05/23/nyregion/200-billion-bill-for-public-works-passed-by-congress.html |access-date=March 8, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |postscript=none |archive-date=October 19, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221019041027/https://www.nytimes.com/1998/05/23/nyregion/200-billion-bill-for-public-works-passed-by-congress.html |url-status=live}}; {{Cite news |last=Sheridan |first=Dick |date=June 28, 1998 |title=Target Traffic Snarls, Noise / Feds Ok 15b in Aid for State Projects |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |page=1 |id={{ProQuest|313600816}}}}</ref> By then, 34 Amtrak trains used the bridge daily.<ref name="p896790519">{{cite news |last=Varner |first=Bill |date=October 11, 1999 |title=A step closer to Penn Station |work=The Journal News |page=B.1 |id={{ProQuest|896790519}}}}</ref>

=== 2000s to present ===
In the first decade of the 21st century, the bridge carried around 41 passenger trains per weekday, as well as less frequent freight-train service.<ref name="Greenstein p. 50" /> Debris still fell from the bridge's approach viaducts due to both vandalism and general neglect,<ref name="The New York Times 2001 c506">{{cite web |date=April 8, 2001 |title=Neighborhood Report: Astoria; A Bridge Meant for Trains, Not Bombardment |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/08/nyregion/neighborhood-report-astoria-a-bridge-meant-for-trains-not-bombardment.html |access-date=March 8, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |postscript=none |archive-date=February 26, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240226225900/https://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/08/nyregion/neighborhood-report-astoria-a-bridge-meant-for-trains-not-bombardment.html |url-status=live}}; {{Cite news |last=Woodberry |first=Warren Jr. |date=August 28, 2000 |title=Teen Vandals Hit Woodsid epelt Homes With Rocks From Rail Line |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |page=1 |id={{ProQuest|305581470}}}}</ref><ref name="Brownlow 2005 s480">{{cite web |last=Brownlow |first=Ron |date=October 13, 2005 |title=Falling Rocks Damage Cars Under Hell Gate In Astoria |url=https://www.qchron.com/editions/western/falling-rocks-damage-cars-under-hell-gate-in-astoria/article_73884549-4072-5cc1-a3d3-18bb102b6653.html |access-date=February 26, 2024 |website=Queens Chronicle |archive-date=February 26, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240226225832/https://www.qchron.com/editions/western/falling-rocks-damage-cars-under-hell-gate-in-astoria/article_73884549-4072-5cc1-a3d3-18bb102b6653.html |url-status=live}}</ref> and Vallone said in 2001 that the paint had started to peel off.<ref name="p305647268">{{cite news |last1=Bertrand |first1=Donald |last2=Blood |first2=Michael |date=March 22, 2001 |title=Claim Hell Gate Paint's Shot to, Well... |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |page=1 |id={{ProQuest|305647268}}}}</ref><ref name="Lippincott 2001 j893">{{cite web |last=Lippincott |first=E.E. |date=April 5, 2001 |title=Pols & Locals: Issues Continue To Plague Hell Gate Bridge |url=https://www.qchron.com/editions/western/pols-locals-issues-continue-to-plague-hell-gate-bridge/article_ff0b7766-61f7-5456-b638-f4bbd2f7de7c.html |access-date=March 8, 2024 |website=Queens Chronicle |archive-date=March 8, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240308214837/https://www.qchron.com/editions/western/pols-locals-issues-continue-to-plague-hell-gate-bridge/article_ff0b7766-61f7-5456-b638-f4bbd2f7de7c.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Security on the bridge was increased following the [[September 11 attacks]].<ref name="Greenstein p. 51">{{harvnb|Greenstein|2004|ps=.|page=51}}</ref> In 2002, state government officials announced plans to spend $11.8 million to replace the bridge's freight track so it could support heavier trains.<ref name="p896915591">{{Cite news |last=Halbfinger |first=Caren |date=October 28, 2002 |title=Hudson Line on track for bigger freight trains |work=The Journal News |page=A.1 |id={{ProQuest|896915591}}}}</ref> After [[Peter Vallone Jr.]] was elected to his father's city council seat, the younger Vallone also unsuccessfully requested that Amtrak repaint the bridge throughout much of the 2000s.<ref name="NYT-Kilgannon" /><ref name="Duke 2009 b880">{{cite web |last=Duke |first=Nathan |date=December 19, 2009 |title=Repair Hell Gate: Vallone – QNS.com |url=https://qns.com/2009/12/repair-hell-gate-vallone/ |access-date=March 8, 2024 |website=QNS.com |archive-date=March 8, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240308220337/https://qns.com/2009/12/repair-hell-gate-vallone/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Following further reports of cracks and falling debris,<ref name="n142959276">{{Cite news |last=Bennett |first=Chuck |date=August 25, 2006 |title=Cracks in bridge cause for concern |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-cracks-in-bridge-cause-for-conce/142959276/ |access-date=March 8, 2024 |work=Newsday |pages=16 |archive-date=March 8, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240308205902/https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-cracks-in-bridge-cause-for-conce/142959276/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Amtrak workers installed steel plates on the trackbed in the mid-2000s.<ref name="p306014209">{{cite news |last=Bertrand |first=Donald |date=March 24, 2006 |title=Rocks Just Miss Pol's Aide. Amtrak Ballast Stones Rain Onto Shore Blvd. |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |page=1 |id={{ProQuest|306014209}}}}</ref> Amtrak proposed raising rental fees for the land under the bridge's approach viaducts in 2006, in some cases as much as 100,000 percent.<ref name="Gannon 2016 t043" /> After further lobbying from the younger Vallone, Amtrak agreed to repair parts of the approach in 2008.<ref name="Toscano 2008 c902">{{cite web |last=Toscano |first=John |date=March 26, 2008 |title=Long Overdue Hell Gate Bridge Repairs Getting Underway |url=https://www.qgazette.com/articles/long-overdue-hell-gate-bridge-repairs-getting-underway/ |access-date=March 8, 2024 |website=Queens Gazette – |postscript=none |archive-date=March 8, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240308222355/https://www.qgazette.com/articles/long-overdue-hell-gate-bridge-repairs-getting-underway/ |url-status=live}}; {{Cite web |date=February 8, 2010 |title=Amtrak to remove scaffolding – QNS.com |url=https://qns.com/2010/02/amtrak-to-remove-scaffolding/ |access-date=March 8, 2024 |website=QNS.com |archive-date=March 8, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240308222352/https://qns.com/2010/02/amtrak-to-remove-scaffolding/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

The bridge's paint continued to fade during the 2010s.<ref name="NYT-Kilgannon" /> Local residents also requested that Amtrak add more lighting to the bridge, which was illuminated at night by a small number of lights below the deck.<ref name="Evelly 2013 x193" /><ref name="McRae 2014 y501">{{cite web |last=McRae |first=Tess |date=February 20, 2014 |title=Hell Gate Bridge may go to the light side |url=https://www.qchron.com/editions/western/hell-gate-bridge-may-go-to-the-light-side/article_172cc88d-fb07-5be3-8598-533619f79121.html |access-date=March 8, 2024 |website=Queens Chronicle |archive-date=March 8, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240308214836/https://www.qchron.com/editions/western/hell-gate-bridge-may-go-to-the-light-side/article_172cc88d-fb07-5be3-8598-533619f79121.html |url-status=live}}</ref> By early 2016, several local politicians were advocating for Amtrak to repaint the bridge in advance of its centennial, citing the fact that various parts of the spans had become discolored.<ref name="Matua 2016 v847">{{cite web |last=Matua |first=Angela |date=March 2, 2016 |title=Queens officials call for a paint job of Astoria's Hell Gate Bridge – QNS.com |url=https://qns.com/2016/03/does-astoria-bridge-need-a-paintjpb/ |access-date=March 8, 2024 |website=QNS.com |postscript=none |archive-date=March 8, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240308221843/https://qns.com/2016/03/does-astoria-bridge-need-a-paintjpb/ |url-status=live}}; {{Cite web |last=Ferry |first=Shannan |date=March 8, 2016 |title=Politicians, Local Leaders Call on Amtrak to Repaint Hell Gate Bridge |url=https://spectrumlocalnews.com/news/2016/03/7/politicians--local-leaders-call-on-amtrak-to-repaint-hell-gate-bridge |access-date=March 8, 2024 |website=spectrumlocalnews.com |postscript=none |archive-date=March 8, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240308214836/https://spectrumlocalnews.com/news/2016/03/7/politicians--local-leaders-call-on-amtrak-to-repaint-hell-gate-bridge |url-status=live}}; {{Cite web |last=Evelly |first=Jeanmarie |date=March 1, 2016 |title=Astoria's Hell Gate Bridge Should Be Repainted for 100th Birthday, Pols Say |url=https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20160301/astoria/astorias-hell-gate-bridge-should-be-repainted-for-100th-birthday-pols-say/ |access-date=March 8, 2024 |website=DNAinfo New York |archive-date=November 20, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231120012403/https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20160301/astoria/astorias-hell-gate-bridge-should-be-repainted-for-100th-birthday-pols-say/ |url-status=dead}}</ref> That year, Amtrak increased rental fees for the land under the bridge from tens of dollars to as much as $40,000 a year.<ref name="Pilgrim 2016 l066">{{cite web |last=Pilgrim |first=Lexi |date=August 26, 2016 |title=Amtrak |url=https://therealdeal.com/new-york/2016/08/26/adding-zeroes-amtrak-jacks-up-rent-for-queens-homeowners/ |access-date=March 8, 2024 |website=The Real Deal |postscript=none |archive-date=March 8, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240308205902/https://therealdeal.com/new-york/2016/08/26/adding-zeroes-amtrak-jacks-up-rent-for-queens-homeowners/ |url-status=live}}; {{Cite web |last=Evelly |first=Jeanmarie |date=August 26, 2016 |title=Amtrak Hikes Rents For Backyard Spaces From $25 to $25K, Residents Say |url=https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20160826/ditmars/amtrak-hikes-rents-for-backyard-spaces-from-25-25k-residents-say/ |access-date=March 8, 2024 |website=DNAinfo New York |archive-date=March 8, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240308205857/https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20160826/ditmars/amtrak-hikes-rents-for-backyard-spaces-from-25-25k-residents-say/ |url-status=dead}}</ref> The railroad reversed the rent increases following outcry from local residents.<ref name="Christian 2016 c597">{{cite web |last=Christian |first=Lyndsay |date=November 4, 2016 |title=Amtrak Reverses Course on Rent Increase for Astoria Residents |url=https://ny1.com/nyc/queens/news/2016/11/4/amtrak-reverses-course-on-rent-increase-for-astoria-residents |access-date=March 8, 2024 |website=Spectrum News NY1 |archive-date=March 8, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240308210021/https://ny1.com/nyc/queens/news/2016/11/4/amtrak-reverses-course-on-rent-increase-for-astoria-residents |url-status=live}}{{cite web |last=Evelly |first=Jeanmarie |date=November 7, 2016 |title=Amtrak Drops Massive Rent Hikes on Backyards of Astoria Homeowners |url=https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20161107/ditmars/amtrak-rescinds-rent-hikes-hell-gate-bridge/ |access-date=March 8, 2024 |website=DNAinfo New York |archive-date=December 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221208170859/https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20161107/ditmars/amtrak-rescinds-rent-hikes-hell-gate-bridge/ |url-status=dead}}</ref> The [[Greater Astoria Historical Society]], in conjunction with Amtrak, celebrated the centennial of the bridge's opening in 2017.<ref name="Barone 2017 q167">{{cite web |last=Barone |first=Vincent |date=March 27, 2017 |title=Hell Gate Bridge, an Astoria icon, turns 100 years old |url=https://www.amny.com/news/hell-gate-bridge-an-astoria-icon-turns-100-years-old-1-13324799/ |access-date=March 8, 2024 |website=amNewYork |postscript=none |archive-date=March 8, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240308215108/https://www.amny.com/news/hell-gate-bridge-an-astoria-icon-turns-100-years-old-1-13324799/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Calisi |first=Joseph M. |title=HELL GATE Hits 100 |date=2017 |magazine=[[Passenger Train Journal]] |publisher=[[White River Productions]] |pages=10–11 |postscript=none}}; {{Cite web |last=Evelly |first=Jeanmarie |date=March 9, 2017 |title=Astoria's Hell Gate Bridge Turns 100 This Week |url=https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20170309/ditmars/hell-gate-bridge-centennial-100th-anniversary/ |access-date=March 8, 2024 |website=DNAinfo New York |archive-date=December 25, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221225175417/https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20170309/ditmars/hell-gate-bridge-centennial-100th-anniversary/ |url-status=dead}}</ref> As part of [[Penn Station Access]], in the 2020s, the [[Metropolitan Transportation Authority]] (MTA) began upgrading the Hell Gate Line to accommodate the [[Metro-North Railroad]]'s [[New Haven Line]].<ref name="NBC New York 2022 w911">{{cite web | title=4 New Metro-North Stations Break Ground in NYC. Here's When They'll Take You to Penn | website=NBC New York | date=December 9, 2022 | url=https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/metro-north-to-penn-station-bronx-mta-stations-groundbreaking-begins-timeline-here/3990112/ | access-date=May 4, 2024}}</ref>