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  • New Dinky to Nassau Street

  • Discussion related to New Jersey Transit rail and light rail operations.
Discussion related to New Jersey Transit rail and light rail operations.

Moderators: lensovet, Kaback9, nick11a

 #1495417  by njtmnrrbuff
 
In Montreal, the Deux-Montagnes commuter rail line is going to be converted into light rail and that's as part the plan to provide better connectivity from Downtown Montreal to the South Shore and West Island. Of course, the NJT Princeton Branch is a fraction of the Deux-Montagnes commuter rail line.

Septa ought to look into converting some of their regional rail lines into light rail. The two that come to mind are the Chestnut Hill Branches because they obviously terminate right in Philadelphia.

Getting back to the Princeton Branch, even if it were to ever get converted to a light rail line, I would probably suggest not running it past Downtown Princeton.
 #1495814  by amtrakowitz
 
lensovet wrote:Who knows, maybe the folks who were saying that LRV operation is loony will finally realize that it's not a bad alternative at all.
And how much money would be spent on this "alternative" that isn't even under consideration?
 #1495936  by lensovet
 
amtrakowitz wrote:
lensovet wrote:Who knows, maybe the folks who were saying that LRV operation is loony will finally realize that it's not a bad alternative at all.
And how much money would be spent on this "alternative" that isn't even under consideration?
high-platform LRVs exist. how much money would be needed to buy 4 cars? how much money would be needed to continue running decaying Arrow sets or running a ridiculous 3-car MLVIII set instead?
 #1495943  by pateljones
 
lensovet wrote:
amtrakowitz wrote:[
high-platform LRVs exist. how much money would be needed to buy 4 cars? how much money would be needed to continue running decaying Arrow sets or running a ridiculous 3-car MLVIII set instead?
Yes, you understand this perfectly. Less costly and more frequent service will result by converting the Zdinky to light rail. But I fear the railroad union will object most vociferously as the Dinky run is a most coveted assignment.
 #1495977  by mtuandrew
 
Where would you get the 750vDC, and where would you service the LRVs?

A high platform vehicle isn’t necessary and would make a Princeton extension much more costly re: platform construction. Better to raise the railbed ~3 1/2 feet at Princeton Junction and the University, since it isn’t that expensive (it’s just a bunch of ballast) and still allows for level boarding.
 #1495998  by lensovet
 
mtuandrew wrote:Where would you get the 750vDC, and where would you service the LRVs?

A high platform vehicle isn’t necessary and would make a Princeton extension much more costly re: platform construction. Better to raise the railbed ~3 1/2 feet at Princeton Junction and the University, since it isn’t that expensive (it’s just a bunch of ballast) and still allows for level boarding.
SFMUNI runs LRVs that support both high level and street level boarding.

Flexity Swift units have been built supporting 15 kV @ 16.7 Hz. I'm sure between Siemens/Bombardier/whoever a unit can be found that will support the NEC catenary. Once you have that in place, arrangements could probably be made to run these units down the corridor to Morrisville or County yards…
 #1496051  by mtuandrew
 
lensovet wrote:Flexity Swift units have been built supporting 15 kV @ 16.7 Hz.
I did not know that. Seems expensive and impractical for a single short line, which means NJT has already ordered four :P
lensovet wrote:Once you have that in place, arrangements could probably be made to run these units down the corridor to Morrisville or County yards…
That “probably” is doing a lot of work to hold up that sentence :wink:

Noted on the high/low floor equipment, though I have doubts that their equipment is accessible within the car (i.e. board at high level, disembark at low level.)
 #1496188  by lensovet
 
yes the accessibility problem is solved with having mini-highs. clearly they think it's working well as they just ordered an entire fleet replacement from Siemens with this setup.
 #1496874  by Paul1705
 
Patrick Boylan wrote:lensovet, pateljones asked about active passenger. What was the active passenger service that HBLR replaced?
There was none that I know of. Raritan Valley service to Bayonne ended in 1978, more than two decades before HBLR used that route.
 #1498442  by pumpers
 
We really do need a new Dinky. I posted the following in the "normal schedule resumption" thread, and someone there asked me to repost it here:
New Jersey Transit: Dinky train (Princeton branch) service won’t resume until spring (or later)
https://planetprinceton.com/2019/01/25/ ... il-spring/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Further, Alexander Rd, the route of the replacement bus service and 1 of the 2 roads between Princeton and Princeton junction (the Dinky endpoints) shuts down completely later this year for an extended time for major bridge replacements, with utility work and partial daytime shutdowns and detours starting next month already. The bus already often has major delays and overcrowding.
A major screw-up all around, to put it mildly.

EDIT: I feel sorry for the mid-level managers who have to get the trains out and staffed and in service every day (probably a non-stop juggling and high-wire act), and save my ire for the big shots that feathered the nest at the top with their political cronies and paybacks rather than hiring the best person for the job. This is what results...
 #1498545  by MACTRAXX
 
Pumpers: That was me asking that you post in this topic.

I was not previously aware that the Dinky was under long term bustitution...
What was the last day that the Dinky ran?
What has the effect been on parking at Princeton Junction Station?

Road work on the bus routing is causing problems as noted - any idea when Dinky train service
may return? MACTRAXX
 #1498604  by pumpers
 
Mac, I seem to recall the last service being in September 2018, but am not sure. I am not a regular at Princeton Junction station, but the "pay by the day without a permit" lot by the Dinky platform (not the lot a 5-10 minute walk away) always used to fill up around 6:30 or 7:00 AM. Don't know how early it fills up now . (They did re-stripe that lot recently so I imagine they squeezed in a few more spots).

As pointed out on the "restoration" thread, NJT can promise all the possibly "fake news" they want about restoration Q2 in 2019, but without engineers and rolling stock with current inspections, not much can happen.
 #1498776  by andrewjw
 
The dinky was scheduled to be suspended on October 14, but was actually suspended on October 11 due to equipment issues. One of the cars' inspection ran out around the weekend of the 5th-7th so they were only running one car from then until the 10th, and that car had issues on the 10th that led to service being suspended and replaced by a bus some time between 3pm and 10pm on the 10th. (I rode it on the afternoon/evening of the 4th, on the evening of the 7th, and on the afternoon and evening of the 10th.)
 #1509062  by andrewjw
 
Service resumed on 12 May. The Princeton University Band met the train at Princeton station.
Brief quote from http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/articl ... es-service
The Band played several classic songs from its repertoire, and the entire crowd cheered as the Dinky departed from the station again.

“We also played the ‘Free Ride,’ but the conductor of the train ignored our unspoken request to play on the actual train, so we just played it in and out of the station,” Miller said.
 #1547096  by lensovet
 
Tucked away at the end of the "Bus Infrastructure" section of NJT's new Capital Projects sheets is a new section on the "Princeton Transitway" which calls for
a new surface transportation route to serve the Princeton area. The existing Princeton Branch right-of-way would provide an anchor for this new system, which would help to accommodate Princeton University’s plans to expand housing and facilities beyond the current campus limitations. The study and design phase would determine the preferred alternative for the initial implementation of the surface transportation route. The design phase would include removal of the electrified rail service, which is costly to maintain, and replace it with a surface transportation route between Princeton and Princeton Junction.
Estimated cost of $61 million.
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