SecaucusJunction wrote:NJT has a single track bridge on the main line with far more trains on the route and they work through just fine.
That would be the bridge over the Hackensack River. It is in a good shape. As long as they paint it and do minor preventive maintenance when needed it will last at least another 200 years. It is a movable bridge(read "expensive"), so do not expect to see it replaced in your lifetime unless a boat or a train wrecks it badly.
pnaw10 wrote:Is it possible that MTA may have added it to the plan at the request or urging of NJTransit? I am not as familiar with the WOH lines but just wondering if maybe there could be some interstate negotiating/politics at play... "you agree to do this, and we'll agree to do that" -- steps that both agencies would need to take to reach some long-term common goal. Since NJT runs the line for MNR, it's my guess that MNR wouldn't bother building a yard unless NJT requested it, and had a good reason to back-up that request.
Has anyone looked to see if NJT has any major projects in the works that could benefit MNR's WOH service?
The yard is in the capital plan because Metro-North wants it, not because NJT cares or wants to provide better service. To some extent it is a political payback so that Orange County complains less about the taxes they pay to the MTA.
There are no projects in NJT land that will improve WOH service in the foreseeable future. They cannot even build a parking lot for the Westmont Station after the developer paid for the station itself(mostly, once again it is all political football who covers how much of the costs). So the station is currently closed and inaccessible. That by itself is quite pathetic - they have a station for which they are at the very least paying for electricity to light it up and yet it will be at least another year before they get a single dollar of revenue from it(I hope I am wrong and it is sooner than that).
The only viable project is the Secaucus Loop, but that is in 20 years at best and that would be paid mostly by outside money: the Feds, the Port Authority, maybe the state will chip in some. Other than that NJT is busy spending its capital money on operations. It has been more than 5 years since they started allocating money in the capital budget for high level platforms at Lyndhurst (and Perth Amboy) - there is not a single shovel in the ground yet. I suspect the major reason is that the money was spent on other items, most likely operations as Christie reduced significantly the funds for NJT from the budget.
On average you should probably expect the NJT portion of the tracks for WOH service to deteriorate as deferred track maintenance leads to speed restrictions.