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  • CR on the Southern Secondary

  • Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in New Jersey
Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in New Jersey

Moderator: David

 #1576611  by CR2721
 
I've always thought that if they were to do a passenger type operation on the Southern that it should be single tracked like the Pascack Valley or the Atlantic City line and have passing sightings along the way at strategic points. At least just to start. But I also agree that mixing 2 different companies on one line is very problematic in New Jersey. In my opinion, I don't think it'll realistically ever happen this happened because of that reason, which is sad.
 #1576613  by Bracdude181
 
@CR2721 Indeed. The Southern Secondary has huge potential for both freight and passenger rail. Mainly freight, but there is intercity/commuter rail possibilities on top of that. I’m not %100 certain about the demand for passenger rail down here though. Lakewood wants it and Toms River kind of wants it, but not sure about Lakehurst, Farmingdale, and a few other places.

NJT and their views on freight are part of the reason why the MOM project has been in limbo for such a long time. They don’t want to deal with any freight at all if possible. Should they ever do MOM expect a mass exodus of freight trains down here.

There are alternatives to this issue but they have some downsides. Sure they could improve the bus service on Route 9 but only so much, and unless they invest in a well designed BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) system those buses will still encounter traffic regardless. I’ve had some ideas about a Tom’s River to South Amboy light rail system, but there’s no way they’d get past the NIMBYs on that.
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