Rockland Commuter - Erie's Northern Line

The Erie's Northern Railroad nows ends in a weedy crossing by a bar in northern NJ. At one time, it ran through to the Erie's station at Nyack, a few blocks from the current ferry dock.

If it still existed, it could make a nice feeder line. Service in 1960 was three trains each way, the ride from Nyack to Hoboken took one hour 12 minutes. Piermont to South Nyack was 12 minutes. That would be tough to do in a car, today, during rush hour.

Here's the 1960 Official Guide's list of stations:

NY/Barclay Street Ferry
Hoboken
Susq Transfer at NJ 3
Ridgefield

current stations to Norwood
Northvale
Sparkill
Piermont town
Grand View (along 9-W)
South Nyack
Nyack

I read somewhere that transit planners for NJ and NY have investigated the possibility of restoring this service. An article in one newspaper brought out a lot of NIMBYs to complain.

It is extremely unlikely that service north of Oak Tree Road in Tappan will ever be restored.

The NYS DOT has plans to pave the ROW and establish a premier recreational trail heading north to Bear Mountain (leaving the RR ROW north of Blauvelt).

With the ROW segment between Tappan and Sparkill soon to be paved, service to Piermont, Grandview, South Nyack, and Nyack will not be possible unless an alternate route is developed, or a shared rail/trail is proposed (unlikely due to NIMBY activity).

If NJT decides to run the Light Rail up the Northern line (and has the $ to pay for that), there's less than zero chance they'll put even an inch of track over the border into NY.

That's too bad. The area needs comprehensive transportation planning.