Editing Hell Gate Bridge (section)

===Fees and surcharges===
Fees were originally charged on freight trains that used the Hell Gate Bridge. For instance, in the 1910s, the New Haven Railroad charged a fee of three cents for every {{Convert|100|lb}} of cargo that was transported via the bridge, a fee that was raised to five cents after World War I.<ref name="p1113121861a" />

During World War I, passengers began paying a fee on trips that used the bridge.<ref name="p877761189a">{{cite magazine |date=November 10, 1945 |title=Hell Gate "Toll" Is Called Unreasonable: Discrimination found as "local" passengers are exempted from payment |magazine=Railway Age |page=762 |volume=119 |issue=19 |id={{ProQuest|877761189}}}}</ref> The surcharge, imposed on all passengers who were not departing or arriving at New York Penn Station, was originally 75 cents but was raised to 90 cents in 1920. To avoid the surcharge, passengers transiting through New York City frequently chose to buy a ticket from their original departure point to Penn Station, then another from Penn Station to their destination.<ref name="p1237390911" /> This prompted a complaint in 1945, in which a traveler claimed that the fee was discriminatory;<ref name="p877760385">{{cite magazine |date=April 7, 1945 |title=Objects to Extra Charge for Hell Gate Bridge Travel |magazine=Railway Age |page=641 |volume=119 |issue=19 |id={{ProQuest|877760385}}}}</ref> an ICC examiner recommended that the PRR and NH stop charging the fee,<ref name="p877761189a" /><ref name="nyt-1945-11-06">{{Cite news |date=November 6, 1945 |title=Would End Bridge Toll; ICC Examiner Reports on Fee on Hell Gate Span |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1945/11/06/archives/would-end-bridge-toll-icc-examiner-reports-on-fee-on-hell-gate-span.html |access-date=March 4, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> but the ICC rejected the recommendation.<ref name="p879774443">{{cite magazine |date=May 4, 1946 |title=Dismisses Complaint Against Hell Gate Route Charge |magazine=Railway Age |page=940 |volume=120 |issue=18 |id={{ProQuest|879774443}}}}</ref> The ICC launched another inquiry into the surcharge in 1951.<ref name="nyt-1951-12-20" /><ref name="p1237390911" /> ICC commissioner J. Monroe Johnson recommended in 1954 that the surcharge either be applied to all rail trips or be abolished entirely,<ref name="p882985076">{{cite magazine |date=November 22, 1954 |title=Figures of the Week: ICC Advised to End Hell Gate Bridge Charge |magazine=Railway Age |page=11 |volume=137 |issue=21 |id={{ProQuest|882985076}} |postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=November 17, 1954 |title=Hell Gate Toll Equalizing Urged |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |page=20 |id={{ProQuest|1324201984}}}}</ref> but the ICC also rejected the proposal.<ref name="p882979990">{{cite magazine |date=July 25, 1955 |title=Hell Gate Arbitraries Upheld by Commission: Rates & Fares |magazine=Railway Age |page=9 |volume=139 |issue=4 |id={{ProQuest|882979990}} |postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=July 20, 1955 |title=I. C. C. Upholds Hell Gate Toll |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |page=20 |id={{ProQuest|1335808006}} |postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=July 20, 1955 |title=East River Toll Upheld by I. C. C |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1955/07/20/archives/east-river-toll-upheld-by-i-c-c.html |access-date=March 7, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

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{{wide image|Hell Gate Bridge 1915 approach Construction.JPG|800px|The Wards Island viaduct under construction {{circa|1915}}, looking north from the Hell Gate arch toward the [[Little Hell Gate]] span}}

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