Lackawanna Cutoff Passenger Service Restoration

Matt Johnson wrote:Maybe we need a grass roots effort to build the thing ourselves. How much would it cost to get enough of this easy-installation track to reach the Delaware Water Gap?

Matt, you have to remember the crashworthiness standards

nomis wrote:

Matt Johnson wrote:Maybe we need a grass roots effort to build the thing ourselves. How much would it cost to get enough of this easy-installation track to reach the Delaware Water Gap?

Matt, you have to remember the crashworthiness standards

Nah, i was thinking more:


Or:


Here it is in action!

braves wrote:Maybe Amtrak should look at taking over the service and perhaps extending the service to Binghamton, NY.

Yes, then up to syracuse or buffalo or even niagara falls or toronto via cortland at some point far, far, far into the future. The northen quarter of the route is fairly flat.

I think Amtrak will be lucky to be around far, far into the future. There is zero chance of them running over the cutoff. Nothing will run west of Andover in any of our lifetimes either so its a moot point.

since there is nothing west of Andover for NJT any further expansion should be funded by state of Pennsylvania as it only serves that state.

DutchRailnut wrote:since there is nothing west of Andover for NJT any further expansion should be funded by state of Pennsylvania as it only serves that state.

Fundamentally, this is true. I cannot imagine the few NJ stations west of Andover having much of any ridership

SecaucusJunction wrote:I think Amtrak will be lucky to be around far, far into the future. There is zero chance of them running over the cutoff. Nothing will run west of Andover in any of our lifetimes either so its a moot point.

I agree with your last 2 statements, but I'm not sure how you think Amtrak will be "lucky to be around far into the future." It's been around for 42 years despite ongoing attempts by politicians on both sides of the aisle to defund it.

Gilbert B Norman wrote: A big problem is where is the precedent for one state to fund rail improvements in another? Has the service over the ERIE through NJ resulted in any track improvements funded by NYMTA for their trains that terminate at Suffern?

I thought that the MTA paid some money for Secaucus station. I am not sure if they pay for any trackwork, but I imagine that at the very least the MTA is paying something equivalent to trackage fees for running the trains between Suffern and Hoboken.

Nothing west of Andover? How about Blairstown and the Delware Watergap? Atleast NJT's orginal idea was just to go up to East Stroudsberg like what they do on the PJ Line where the crew change occurs in Suffern NY (First town on the line in Upstate NY). Park and Rides can easily be built at these lcoations that can service this parts of NJ and do wonders to unclog our highways and backroads here. To completely write off anything past Andover is as ignorant as writing off areas West of Montclair which NJT likes to do. Shameful and ignorangt behavior especially when we get a D in infastruture. This is not the way to plan for the future.

I thought rebuilding the cutoff would have little effect on I-80 traffic patterns.

Penna won't fund infrastructure improvements ever. Just look at the fight Septa always has, the Norristown high speed line that no longer goes there because of a bridge in disrepair, the lack of an Njt station in Morrisville, despite Njt saying they would serve it without fees if only PA would build the station, or even on the highway side the lack of an interchange with I95 at the PA turnpike for a complete highway route between Philly and NYC, one of the last missing gaps in the interstate system. PA doesn't ever pay for anything.

My lifetime? I profoundly disagree. The real hold-up is political. People want the rail service to go to scranton and binghamton. People WANT an alternative to driving. We've built ourself into a corner as far as housing, commercial and road... while we let dormant rail lines fall into ever worse states. Gasoline is about 3-4 times more expensive than using transit, which allows more income to be used for savings and non-fuel purchases. Also, you can't just plop stations down, you need feeder bus routes that connect with trains in a way where people are not missing their bus or their train, and have park & ride lots where you can drive or carpool to and take the bus from....

You can't build a framed house with just lumber, you need nails and siding and wiring and so on.... if you get what i mean. right now we have a frame, and it isn't working.

And yea, morrisville is a huge gap in service that needs to be filled.

Maybe we need some kind of comprehensive bi-state passenger mass transit agreement put into law or something. The 2 states often operate as one for everyday people, yet the transportation system couldn't be more black and white once you cross that river....

I believe there was a study done a few years back that said the Binghamton market was not enough to warrant the train service. Bus service was given as the preferred alternative.

Unfortunately, the ride from Scranton on NJT would be far too long of a schedule for most people to bear. As we know, NJT is not known for their quick schedules and any times they have dreamed about in the past are not based in reality.

If you can get to Andover, take it and run with it because we wont see any tracks beyond that in our lifetimes.

That's why you have express service into PA only stopping at key NJ stations, and local NJ trains with express service only stopping at 2 or so PA stations....... Trying to serve every station with every train is not gonna work. This would be perfect for the P40's, as they were designed for long distance high speed cruising. There are lots of options. Gotta think outside of the box......

Again Njt is a NJ service for NJ taxpayers. If PA people want it pony up with your tax dollars as DE does for Septa service.