andegold wrote:I think the line between Suffern and Spring Valley could have very high ridership as light rail. It connects the two downtowns obviously but it also runs past/through some pretty high density housing as well.
NJT has already done something similiar in southern New Jersey, the Riverline. Two semi-blighted communites being connected by a DMU light rail, instead of being used for true through commuter rail services. It would be a stretch to call the Riverline a boondoggle (it is good for NJ), but ridership has never approached the estimates.
Just an open question for anybody who may have more knowledge than I:
Now that the unsurprising bait and switch with mass transit on the new Tappan Zee is done, (i.e. its never going to happen to despite being used as a selling point for getting tax payers to rebuild the bridge), is there any possibility this short clear gap gets filled in (between Suffern and Spring Valley). The benefits have been mentioned here again and again, but has there been any more traction now that mass transit on the Tappan Zee is effectively dead? And as long as MetroNorth or NJT own the ROW, they could theoretically just rebuild the tracks with limited community involvement, rid themselves of the Spring Valley yard, sell trackage rights to NS for through running, provide more redundancy, and serve a new community.