NY Times River Line article

matt1168 wrote:What if these trains ran on the center from Newark Airport to, let's say, Princeton Jct.? That might've worked out a bit better, as to have through service from NYP/Newark/and the airport to what's currently served by the riverline.

The same issue arises with frequency though. How many diesel push pull trains could you run over the River Line without NIMBYs complaining or without running into an equipment shortage? Not even the NEC has half hour headways on weekends. I think the frequency of operation is a key attraction for the River Line.

See my prior comments about modern DMUs. FRA-compliant DMUs would be just as quiet as these DLRVs and also be capable of carrying added amenities such as bathrooms and reversible-back seats. They could also operate on the NEC, possibly as far north as Hoboken Terminal, and at least negating the need to spend money to build the separate station that exists now in Trenton. (The trick would be to not build them to a length of 85 feet, one factor that restricts operation around tight-radius curved track, i.e. if street-running within Camden were to be retained.)

Also, the NIMBYs adjacent to the Bordentown Secondary/Camden & Amboy have to contend with noisy freight movements at night presently, thanks to the time-sharing waiver thingy that was instituted by the FRA back in 1999. If the FRA was not so stringent, then these freights could operate during the daytime and thus not disturb the sleep of the majority of residents of towns along the rail line in question...