to connect to the Hudson River Railroad's tracks in Canal Street, and run over any part of the lines of the Hudson River Railroad, Sixth Avenue Railroad, and Eighth Avenue Railroad in and below Canal Street. The line opened in late July 1859, using the shared trackage of the Sixth and Eighth Avenue Railroads from Broadway and Barclay Street along Barclay Street, Church Street (northbound only), Chambers Street (northbound only), and West Broadway to Canal Street. The line was later extended south along Washington and Greenwich Streets and east on Fulton Street to Broadway, and north from 54th Street to 59th Street. The beginning of a lengthy extension to the north opened on March 9, 1884, along Ninth Avenue, Columbus Avenue, Broadway, and Amsterdam Avenue from 59th Street to 74th Street. It was extended further to 110th Street on April 26, 1884, later to LaSalle Street, and finally to the Fort Lee Ferry via LaSalle Street, Broadway, and 130th Street. The Houston, West Street and Pavonia Ferry Railroad leased the Ninth Avenue Railroad on March 12, 1892, and on December 12, 1893 the HWS&PF was merged into the Metropolitan Street Railway. Under the Metropolitan, the south end was changed to the Christopher Street Ferry, using the trackage of the Christopher and Tenth Street Railroad on Christopher Street. The Metropolitan also introduced the Ninth and Columbus Avenues Line, a combination of the Ninth Avenue Line (from the Cortlandt Street Ferry) with the Columbus Avenue Line, a former cable railway line, as well as the Sixth and Amsterdam Avenues Line, an extension of the Sixth Avenue Line west on 59th Street and north along the Ninth and Amsterdam Avenues Line. The Sixth Avenue cars, but not those from Ninth Avenue, were extended north on Amsterdam Avenue to Fort George, along the Third Avenue Railroad's Third and Amsterdam Avenues Line, after the Metropolitan leased the Third Avenue in 1900. In 1908, the Third Avenue was released from the bankrupt Metropolitan. The Metropolitan introduced the Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue Line on February 17, 1908, connecting the Broadway Line to the Ninth and Amsterdam Avenues Line via 53rd Street. The Ninth and Columbus Avenues Line was later discontinued, and all Ninth Avenue cars, then beginning at both the Cortlandt Street and Christopher Street Ferries, were truncated to the intersection with 53rd Street, where passengers could transfer to the Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue Line, Sixth and