North Jersey Commuter Rail Plan to Be Revived
By Commuter Rail Today staff
A long-stalled commuter rail project from Sparta to New York City will be revived according to proposals prematurely posted on a Regional Transportation Planning Commission website.
The plans, which were intended to be officially announced later this year, call for the revival of the plan to run commuter trains along the right-of-way of the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway eastward from Sparta, paralleling the crowded Route 23 corridor.
But rather than continuing east to Hawthorne, where the trains would connect to the New Jersey Transit Main Line for the trip to Secaucus Junction and Hoboken, and require a change of trains, the revised plan calls for the trains to divert in Riverdale at Pompton Junction to the dormant tracks that run through Riverdale, Pequannock and Wayne to Mountain View, where they would connect to the NJ Transit Montclair-Boonton Line. The trains could then run directly into New York’s Penn Station without the need for riders to switch trains.
Several infrastructure and equipment developments since the original plan was proposed in the 1980s, including the construction of the Montclair Connection, which allows direct access to New York, and dual-mode locomotives, which can run on conventional diesel power, then switch to overhead electric power, have made the plan more workable, the report said.
This could cut significant travel time from the trip from northern Passaic County communities to New York.
Several complications do lie in the path of the plan, including securing the necessary permits to replace the Riverdale connection, essentially a short on-ramp between the two lines, which was removed when detention ponds were created to offset fill from the nearby construction of Route I-287 in the 1990s. But because in theory the plan could remove thousands of cars from rush-hour highways, concerns of the federal Environmental Protection Agency could be minimized.
Because the locations of the original stations offer very little parking, park-and-ride facilities, according to the plan, would be built off Riverdale Road in Riverdale, providing easy access to nearby by highways Route 23 and I-287.
Other locations proposed include at the Pequannock Township Municipal Building on the Newark-Pompton Turnpike, which already provides parking for bus commuters, and a site near the crossing of the rail line and the Turnpike further south near the Pequannock business district. Flooding concerns, however, would likely require the construction of an elevated parking structure.
Two sites under consideration in Wayne, one on Haul Road, the other on Ryerson Avenue, present the same flooding issues.
While the tracks between Sparta and Riverdale have been well-maintained and need minor improvements to accommodate commuter rail service, the seven-mile section through Riverdale, Pequannock and Wayne would require complete rebuilding. Track-laying equipment, which could be leased from NJ Transit or Amtrak, could get the project completed in three to four months, the report indicated. The tracks would be built to allow speeds up to 79 miles per hour. Work would also include installation of crossing gates, flashing warning lights, and bell at all grade crossings.
The trains themselves would be run by crews and equipment provided by NJ Transit, the report said.
Originally published April 1, 2015
By Commuter Rail Today staff
A long-stalled commuter rail project from Sparta to New York City will be revived according to proposals prematurely posted on a Regional Transportation Planning Commission website.
The plans, which were intended to be officially announced later this year, call for the revival of the plan to run commuter trains along the right-of-way of the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway eastward from Sparta, paralleling the crowded Route 23 corridor.
But rather than continuing east to Hawthorne, where the trains would connect to the New Jersey Transit Main Line for the trip to Secaucus Junction and Hoboken, and require a change of trains, the revised plan calls for the trains to divert in Riverdale at Pompton Junction to the dormant tracks that run through Riverdale, Pequannock and Wayne to Mountain View, where they would connect to the NJ Transit Montclair-Boonton Line. The trains could then run directly into New York’s Penn Station without the need for riders to switch trains.
Several infrastructure and equipment developments since the original plan was proposed in the 1980s, including the construction of the Montclair Connection, which allows direct access to New York, and dual-mode locomotives, which can run on conventional diesel power, then switch to overhead electric power, have made the plan more workable, the report said.
This could cut significant travel time from the trip from northern Passaic County communities to New York.
Several complications do lie in the path of the plan, including securing the necessary permits to replace the Riverdale connection, essentially a short on-ramp between the two lines, which was removed when detention ponds were created to offset fill from the nearby construction of Route I-287 in the 1990s. But because in theory the plan could remove thousands of cars from rush-hour highways, concerns of the federal Environmental Protection Agency could be minimized.
Because the locations of the original stations offer very little parking, park-and-ride facilities, according to the plan, would be built off Riverdale Road in Riverdale, providing easy access to nearby by highways Route 23 and I-287.
Other locations proposed include at the Pequannock Township Municipal Building on the Newark-Pompton Turnpike, which already provides parking for bus commuters, and a site near the crossing of the rail line and the Turnpike further south near the Pequannock business district. Flooding concerns, however, would likely require the construction of an elevated parking structure.
Two sites under consideration in Wayne, one on Haul Road, the other on Ryerson Avenue, present the same flooding issues.
While the tracks between Sparta and Riverdale have been well-maintained and need minor improvements to accommodate commuter rail service, the seven-mile section through Riverdale, Pequannock and Wayne would require complete rebuilding. Track-laying equipment, which could be leased from NJ Transit or Amtrak, could get the project completed in three to four months, the report indicated. The tracks would be built to allow speeds up to 79 miles per hour. Work would also include installation of crossing gates, flashing warning lights, and bell at all grade crossings.
The trains themselves would be run by crews and equipment provided by NJ Transit, the report said.
Originally published April 1, 2015
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