Anything new on whats happening with the study & will this study finally get off the ground.
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MOM isn't going to happen, at least anytime soon. NJT has enough issues to take care of with it's own equipment as well as along the right of ways closer to the city. The original MOM plan would have been to take the NEC to Midway Interlocking and then travel on the Jamesburg Branch and whatever the track is through Englishtown and Freehold and then head south from Freehold following Rt 9 to Lakewood and maybe Lakehurst. That routing takes too long. Plus for those people who live along Rt. 9 in Freehold onto Lakewood-they are served by NJT's busiest commuter bus route to NYC-the 139. There are other bus routes to NYC in the towns along the route or very close like Jamesburg and Englishtown.
This project is now in cold storage,there're way more important things to be done like ACSES equipment installs,
or loose access to NY Penn and 30th street in Philly.
or loose access to NY Penn and 30th street in Philly.
The Land of Enchantment is not Flyover country!
As of now, this project is dormant.
As previously stated, NJT currently has a LOT of stuff to take care of, such as PTC installation, crew shortages, funding the Gateway Project, and much much more.
Not to mention the Northern Branch project, the Lackawanna Cutoff restoration, and the Bayfront HBLR station are way more important projects for NJT outside of Gateway, so I'm pretty sure that's where all the non-Gateway project funding is going to right now.
As previously stated, NJT currently has a LOT of stuff to take care of, such as PTC installation, crew shortages, funding the Gateway Project, and much much more.
Not to mention the Northern Branch project, the Lackawanna Cutoff restoration, and the Bayfront HBLR station are way more important projects for NJT outside of Gateway, so I'm pretty sure that's where all the non-Gateway project funding is going to right now.
A train ride a day keeps the doctor away.
Was a DEIS ever completed on this study since there were alternatives for this study before the ARC project was cancelled back in October 2010.
njt/mnrrbuff » Sun Aug 12, 2018 9:47 am
Plus for those people who live along Rt. 9 in Freehold onto Lakewood-they are served by NJT's busiest commuter bus route to NYC-the 139.That was the point of the MOM project to begin with, getting some of the enormous traffic load off of Rt.9! I live 1 mile from the middle of that area and avoid Rt 9 whenever possible.
In agreement with what has been said in posts above, MOM will not happen until other (more pressing) things get done.
Harry
NJT has so many other things going on, we won't see this for a very long time. But it should happen someday. The railroads were in such a big hurry to end ferry service, until someone realized they were a needed entity. And they are back. They also were in a hurry to tear up little-used lines, but now there is a need for them again. At least the old Southern Division is still in place, and the Freehold & Jamesburg line to Farmingdale still exists.
We all agree the MOM is needed and should be opened. Not if, but when.
My take has always been to begin at Toms River. Get off Ciba-Geigy's back in exchange for a yard and park-and-ride lot, easing the Parkway's gridlock. Take the MOM to Red Bank, and also to Freehold and up to South Amboy. A back-up route is not a bad idea. Years ago, when the Matawan Trestle burned, detours that worked were set up by both the CNJ and the PRR. Today, one bridge outage or trees or wires down on the NJCL brings everything to a screeching halt. Just one line is too limiting.
The every-Thursday lumber train going to Lakewood, to the delight of area railfans, brings materials to build more housing, and people, who will ultimately need better transportation. The roads can't handle what we have now, and they're inviting more people to move in. Sooner or later, someone in authority just might notice and comprehensive rail transit will once again roll. (Maybe?)
We all agree the MOM is needed and should be opened. Not if, but when.
My take has always been to begin at Toms River. Get off Ciba-Geigy's back in exchange for a yard and park-and-ride lot, easing the Parkway's gridlock. Take the MOM to Red Bank, and also to Freehold and up to South Amboy. A back-up route is not a bad idea. Years ago, when the Matawan Trestle burned, detours that worked were set up by both the CNJ and the PRR. Today, one bridge outage or trees or wires down on the NJCL brings everything to a screeching halt. Just one line is too limiting.
The every-Thursday lumber train going to Lakewood, to the delight of area railfans, brings materials to build more housing, and people, who will ultimately need better transportation. The roads can't handle what we have now, and they're inviting more people to move in. Sooner or later, someone in authority just might notice and comprehensive rail transit will once again roll. (Maybe?)
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I keep saying if they built a platform in red bank and ran either LRT cars, or just a shuttle to connect with mainline trains at red bank you would have ridership instantly without messing up the traffic in red bank too much more than it already is.
The idea of detours would be fantastc. Putting electric on the old amboy branch to put some kind of short loop MU commuter nonsense between the corridor would be a weekenders dream come true. Instead of running a dead loop at north brunswick, have trains turn off at rahway go down to south amboy, up the connection at SA, down to sayerville back up at monmouth jct and then head back to NY. Even on a weekday, this would be a good cycle system to keep college people, workers from new brunswick etc off the roads and on the train.
The idea of detours would be fantastc. Putting electric on the old amboy branch to put some kind of short loop MU commuter nonsense between the corridor would be a weekenders dream come true. Instead of running a dead loop at north brunswick, have trains turn off at rahway go down to south amboy, up the connection at SA, down to sayerville back up at monmouth jct and then head back to NY. Even on a weekday, this would be a good cycle system to keep college people, workers from new brunswick etc off the roads and on the train.
No good deed goes unpunished.
An important thing to mention is the fact that the Freehold Secondary, even though it has been turned into a trail, is still owned by NJT. That means NJT has the right to rip up the trail and restore service, but I'm not sure how smoothly this will go.
A train ride a day keeps the doctor away.
MaRoFu » Sat Aug 18, 2018 8:58 amMinor corrections:
An important thing to mention is the fact that the Freehold Secondary, even though it has been turned into a trail, is still owned by NJT.
If you mean the Henry Hudson Trail, you are correct about ownership. That is the old CNJ Freehold Branch from Matawan to Freehold. The Freehold Secondary (aka Freehold Industrial Track) is the line from Jamesburg through Freehold to Farmingdale, with the portion between Freehold and Farmingdale out of service. This line owned by NJ Dept. of Transportation.
Both lines have a MAJOR NIMBY issue. Until Rt 9 traffic comes to a standstill, MOM will not be considered.
Harry
Of all the proposed NJ Transit expansions projects, MOM has the most potential for ridership and benefit to commuters. But MOM, West Trenton etc.. Probably cannot be done now because there's no room for the additional riders on trains to NY pen or the PATH. The new Hudson tunnels need to be built first, thus freeing up capacity.
The Hudson River tunnels are very high on the priority list and just getting NJT back to where it should be is a must.
I've mentioned this many times, but the preferred routing that was agreed on many years ago, isn't good. That is taking the NEC to Midway Interlocking, and then taking Conrail's Shared Assets lines across Middlesex and Mommouth Counties. This routing would take a long time, not making train travel time competitive with driving or taking the busiest NJT commuter bus route in the state, the 139. If MOM were to ever get built, I would strongly suggest having it take the Coastline as far as Matawan and then reviving the old right of way serving Freehold. Even if and when Gateway happens, I doubt that residents will appreciate having tracks restored along the old right of way below Matawan(old CNJ Freehold Branch).
There's not much need for W. Trenton service. People who live along that line, especially in Mercer and lower Somerset County don't mind driving to the NEC.
I've mentioned this many times, but the preferred routing that was agreed on many years ago, isn't good. That is taking the NEC to Midway Interlocking, and then taking Conrail's Shared Assets lines across Middlesex and Mommouth Counties. This routing would take a long time, not making train travel time competitive with driving or taking the busiest NJT commuter bus route in the state, the 139. If MOM were to ever get built, I would strongly suggest having it take the Coastline as far as Matawan and then reviving the old right of way serving Freehold. Even if and when Gateway happens, I doubt that residents will appreciate having tracks restored along the old right of way below Matawan(old CNJ Freehold Branch).
There's not much need for W. Trenton service. People who live along that line, especially in Mercer and lower Somerset County don't mind driving to the NEC.
People might not mind driving to the NEC but the overcrowding of parking at hamilton princeton and metro park is getting old and so is the excess of traffic from such. There needs to be more commuting options in NJ and they need to get over this whole it has to go to NYC stuff. There are a lot more places in NJ to work than NYC and people could be taking trains or diverted to lines where it would make more sense for them.
Like why should somebody who works in Newark have to take an NEC train to work, when a raritan line train could work if there were better express and options from the west trenton corridor? What about people who work in New Brunswick? The ever increasing amount of people going to work in Philly?
Like why should somebody who works in Newark have to take an NEC train to work, when a raritan line train could work if there were better express and options from the west trenton corridor? What about people who work in New Brunswick? The ever increasing amount of people going to work in Philly?
No good deed goes unpunished.
With the chronic delays and cancellations of trains these days as well as traffic getting to the station, people might be reluctant to take the train. Many people who live in the towns that are along lines involved in the MOM study, especially along the Rt. 9 corridor, drive to Metropark for the train. That makes sense. They are not going to drive to any station on the diesel portion of the Coastline because the ride takes way too long. They might drive to Aberdeen-Matawan but unless you get an express train, it's a little slow of a ride from there to NWK and NYC. Metropark, on the other hand, is the winner since more trains serve there, even during off peak hours. The problem with driving a distance between where you live and the train station is that if you are stuck in traffic, you might regret having to drive all of that extra distance, especially when the trains are acting up. Since this spring or summer, the NEC has been faced with NJT having to cancel many of their own trains.
Yes, it is true that not everybody who depends on public transportation is going to NWK or NYC. There might be people who live in Freehold and Lakewood who might work in New Brunswick and that's the one benefit for the preferred routing of MOM. Maybe even do a diesel light rail study connecting Freehold to New Brunswick, Princeton, and Trenton. Maybe if the Dinky is ever truncated permanently, Princeton could be on a proposed diesel light rail network connecting the large towns along Rt. 9 in Mommouth and Ocean County as well as across Central NJ.
Yes, it is true that not everybody who depends on public transportation is going to NWK or NYC. There might be people who live in Freehold and Lakewood who might work in New Brunswick and that's the one benefit for the preferred routing of MOM. Maybe even do a diesel light rail study connecting Freehold to New Brunswick, Princeton, and Trenton. Maybe if the Dinky is ever truncated permanently, Princeton could be on a proposed diesel light rail network connecting the large towns along Rt. 9 in Mommouth and Ocean County as well as across Central NJ.
I know it's like beating a dead horse, but I always thought the best route would start at Ciba-Geigy in Toms River (plenty of room for a terminal and park-n-ride lot), run to Lakehurst, and then on to Farmingdale. From there, either to Red Bank or Jamesburg, and then to the NJCL. These lines exist, so I doubt the Freehold to Matawan ROW would ever be reactivated.
The NIMBYs in Jamesburg have always frustrated me. They worry their kids might get run over by trains. Well, if they can teach their kids to stay away from Route 522 and the dump trucks that run through there, they can teach their kids to stay off the tracks.
All the money that was wasted on studies for the MOM. Park in Toms River at 7 am by the Parkway and Route 37 and watch the traffic. Study complete.
The NIMBYs in Jamesburg have always frustrated me. They worry their kids might get run over by trains. Well, if they can teach their kids to stay away from Route 522 and the dump trucks that run through there, they can teach their kids to stay off the tracks.
All the money that was wasted on studies for the MOM. Park in Toms River at 7 am by the Parkway and Route 37 and watch the traffic. Study complete.
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