Phillipsburg Rail Service—Four Years, $90 Million

[nick11a]

Trains I have been on during my daily commute from High Bridge over the last 10+ years on a handful of occasions used the siding (inner track) from High Bridge to Annandale. Each time it was because of a broken down train on the main track or a track defect.

Clinton is several miles east of Annandale and is used daily for deadhead trains to meet. It is much more efficient in terms of less waiting time for deadheads in its central location.

Maybe it would have made more sense to upgrade this siding instead of building the new one in WH. There's also one in High Bridge, which could be useful if/when service is extended west.

No, Transit is planning ahead WHEN they will have more service west of Raritan. Conditions changed: the economy went down and apparently Conrail wasn't keen on having more trains since they weren't consulted in regards to the service expansion. It isn't happening now like they said it would... but, eventually, it will.

Now, it is a great help for X-moves. Many times, a train would be stuck at the east end of the Annandale siding while a train was departing Raritan. That's a long wait. Now they can get them closer to Whitehouse and not make them wait as long.

And the ONLY reason why the "inner" track (siding) isn't used ordinarily for revenue trains is because no revenue train meets another revenue train on the Annandale siding. All of the meets there ordinarily are an X-move and a revenue train. Now, with 30 MPH switches at each end of the siding and 30 MPH speed on the siding, if you're a commute after a long day of work going to Annandale or High Bridge, which track would you rather be on? Thus, the X-moves get the slow track which happens to have the platform due to the setup of the station.

[njtmnrrbuff]

I wouldn't count on RVL service being extended westward, so soon, at least across the border into PA.

When and if the RVL is extended west of HB, I wonder if it will run on its own right of way in the Pattenburg area, since I believe the CSAS's Lehigh Valley Line takes a lot of loops there, and that would be a no no for transit.

[CPSK]

Uh; I don't think our dear Gov Christie (I hope that I have mis-spelled his name) is going to allow anything this ambitious to happen anytime in his reign.
Apparently, he's already planning serious cuts to NJT.
What a shame. More cars, more pollution. I hate this state!

FW

[NYS&W142Fan]

I said it before and I'll say it again, I think our New Gov. should ride the rails before he makes his decision. Are there places to cut waste on Transit, I'm sure there is. Phillipsburg is one area where service is needed. Can transit be profitable, I do not think so, but if we put the same amount of money in Transit that we put in Roads and Airports, just think of what we could have.

[kevikens]

Just today the Phila. Inquirer ran a story about funding, quite a bit of funding, to study the expansion of rail transit in South Jersey and light rail in Philly. It seems that money is never spent on anything other than studies. The South Jersey expansion has been "studied" several times from 1968 on. The expansion of passenger rail service from Phila to Reading, from Phila. to Bethlehem and of course here in NJ from NYC to Scranton have been studied to death. There are no snail darters in the Northeast. We do not need studies, we need construction. Why not use the limited funds presently available to start actual construction of new rail lines. If NJT cannot afford to construct service from Camden to Glassboro just build it to Woodbury now and as revenue comes in build another addition . The same with service to Phillipsburg or Scranton or Lakeland or West Trenton. Get tracks layed for some of this service with some of the "studies" funding and in time full service can be established but I suspect that there is a return to the politicians from the fees paid to consultants to "study" rail expansion that would not be readily available from the actual construction of a rail line. After all when was the last time you heard of a "study" being audited ? Unless the public demands that the rails actually be layed and the lines built, just in segments if necessary, the new studies will be shelved to join the ones moldering in the archives of never ending and never completed rail projects.

[JLo]

Uh; I don't think our dear Gov Christie (I hope that I have mis-spelled his name) is going to allow anything this ambitious to happen anytime in his reign.
Apparently, he's already planning serious cuts to NJT.
What a shame. More cars, more pollution. I hate this state!

The state is broke. It is $2bb in the hole this year and $11bb in the hole for next year. It requires cuts to spending across the board to balance the budget. NJT is just one of many an agency about to have to eat its young to survive. And you spelled his name right.

[blockline4180]

Uh; I don't think our dear Gov Christie (I hope that I have mis-spelled his name) is going to allow anything this ambitious to happen anytime in his reign.
Apparently, he's already planning serious cuts to NJT.
What a shame. More cars, more pollution. I hate this state!

The state is broke. It is $2bb in the hole this year and $11bb in the hole for next year. It requires cuts to spending across the board to balance the budget. NJT is just one of many an agency about to have to eat its young to survive. And you spelled his name right.

LOL, how many more times are you going to say "the state is broke" before others get a clue as to what is going on??

[northjerseybuff]

NJ Transit has no plans to extend a line west to Phillipsburg that would link Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton and is thinking about raising fares and cutting back service, said the Lehigh Valley's chief transportation planner, Joseph Gurinko.

http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-a1- ... ory?page=2

[Taborite]

There was a contingent of about 30 riders of the WHEELS service in Phillipsburg at the public hearing in Morristown tonight, which sadly is the last public transit service they have and is on the chopping block.

[northjerseybuff]

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/breakin ... sburg.html

It could cost an estimated $659 million for passenger rail service that connects the Lehigh Valley with central New Jersey and New York, according to a feasibility study released today.

[northjerseybuff]

full report is here

http://media.lehighvalleylive.com/break ... -study.pdf

[northjerseybuff]

http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-a1_ ... 8632.story

Some of these assumptions and estimates were questioned by members of the mostly pro-train crowd, including Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski, but Sullivan stuck to the numbers.

[lensovet]

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/breakin ... sburg.html

It could cost an estimated $659 million for passenger rail service that connects the Lehigh Valley with central New Jersey and New York, according to a feasibility study released today.

ok that's a bad quote. the numbers released are:
$659 mil for Phillipsburg->Allentown segment
$400 mil for High Bridge->Phillipsburg segment
thus $1bil total for connecting Allentown to NYC.

[Jtgshu]

Those numbers seem a bit high...........

I wonder if those numbers include equipment acquistion costs, which really shouldn't be included, because there is the entire fleet of Comet 3s sitting idle and there are diesels and cars being leased out....

So if those costs include equipment,you could probably drop it by about, oh i dunno, 100 million or so?

[Roadgeek Adam]

This sounds like the Marshalls Creek Bypass, price ballooned. I mean, it was 90 million in 2007, and now its 400 million? I mean, adding in Jt's comment, how much does it cost to rehab and replace tracks and build 3-4 stations (Glen Gardner, Hampton, Alpha and what ever they put in between the two), even if we built them Mount Tabor style with 1 side platform? I question that number wholeheartedly.

Edit: I just read the report. I now question why we don't have Glen Gardner given a station. I mean its not that close to High Bridge.