Lackawanna Cutoff Passenger Service Restoration

[Backshophoss]

Again,get the rails to Andover,THEN STOP!
PA Can't fix SEPTA's Funding,even the PA pike funding is cut to NOTHING.
"Christi Era"budget cuts to both operations and capital projects led to delays,train offs,shutdown of Atlantic City services
real bad labor relations with the unions at NJTRO.
GIVE UP on service to Scranton,IT WONT HAPPEN!!!

[jrevans]

From the March 2, 2020 Scranton Times Tribune.

Admin Note: Quote truncated to a brief, fair-use article quote to comply with copyright laws. Different link found: https://www.citizensvoice.com/news/new- ... -1.2602104

Thank you for finding the source article, admin! I tried finding it myself and failed.

I like this quote from the article:

Larry Malski, executive director of the Pennsylvania Northeast Regional Railroad Authority, the new study’s chief sponsor, said it focuses more narrowly on the missing track and two bridges for a reason.

Excursion trips already operate on existing track between Scranton and the Delaware Water Gap, Malski said. Presumably, a restored train from Hoboken could run all the way to Scranton using that track, but not without the 21 miles missing on the cutoff.

“Without the 21 miles, we’re just spinning our wheels,” Malski said.

[Backshophoss]

What Money? No commit from the state,who can't fund SEPTA?
STOP at Andover!!!!

[joeycannoli]

What Money? No commit from the state,who can't fund SEPTA?
STOP at Andover!!!!

Let it come to Blairstown - please

Then we can stop

[photobug56]

True. But then again, the pollution from overcrowded roads is very bad for us taxpayers.

[CarterB]

What Money? No commit from the state,who can't fund SEPTA?
STOP at Andover!!!!

Let it come to Blairstown - please

Then we can stop

How much ridership would Blairstown area generate. The extra miles from Andover thru nowhereland to get to Blairstown may not be at all worth it.

[Backshophoss]

Just STOP at Andover,nothing else make sense.
This thread is now a circle track, Mods HELP!!

[lensovet]

Just STOP at Andover,nothing else make sense.
This thread is now a circle track, Mods HELP!!

the only circle track i see is you posting the same thing over and over again…practice what you preach brother…

[lensovet]

No offense to anyone, how did we get to steam train travel times? I’d like to focus on the here and now. Is the extension to Andover ever going to get completed? I ask because on NJTs schedule of upcoming contracts for the next 6 months, there is no project for rehabbing Roseville Tunnel or building a station and parking lot at Andover. That’s a fact because the list is posted on NJTs web site. Is this another unicorn project like West Trenton or MOM, hoped for and talked about it never to be realized? I’m hoping not but the rails installed in 2011-12 are rust coated and NJTs silence and inactivity raise doubts to me.

Assuming this is a genuine question and not an attempt to suddenly make this thread very active for no reason (seriously, why did this suddenly wake up over the past week or so?), the answer to your question was provided by NJT to another forum member and is quoted in full in post 1534881.

The need, though, is quite real. Taking slow running buses is not fun. Not a good way to get from NYC (from the still scary PA Bus Terminal / homeless shelter) to the Poconos and back, or Scranton and back. And it's not just weekend passengers, people have long since commuted to NYC from Scranton or just east of Scranton. I respected Martz - having reserved seats on a decent bus helped, but I still dreaded the trip. Being stuck in a fairly narrow seat with nearby smokers, etc. not nice.

Sorry, nearby smokers? How many decades ago was this?

Unfortunately while you might think that the "need" is "real", the demographics show a different story. The population of Warren County has been dropping for the past two decades; it is the third-least-populous county in the entire state (losing out to just Cape May and Salem Counties). Scranton's population peaked in 1930 (!!!) and has been going down continuously since (even the "positive" 2018 census estimate puts it at just 1% above 20 years ago). The population of the Scranton—Wilkes-Barre—Hazleton, PA (MSA) is also down over the past two decades. The poverty rate is 20% higher than the rest of PA with a mean travel time to work of <23 minutes.

There is literally zero market for commuters to travel 2+ hours from this region and the population that exists is dwindling, not growing. Why on earth would NJT, or PA, sink any money into creating service there? Even Andover is dubious, but could at least be excused given that its population was actually continuously growing since 1930 and only started trending down after 2010. Guess when even that project started coming to a halt? Yeah…in the mid 2010s.

[photobug56]

And you actually know how many commute from NEPA daily to the NYC area? Or potential tourism if there was rail to the Poconos from NYC? From your view, I 80 to / from PA must be empty every commute.

[lensovet]

Take it up with the census bureau I guess?

https://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/tabl ... 0US4242540

[joeycannoli]

What Money? No commit from the state,who can't fund SEPTA?
STOP at Andover!!!!

Let it come to Blairstown - please

Then we can stop

How much ridership would Blairstown area generate. The extra miles from Andover thru nowhereland to get to Blairstown may not be at all worth it.

I have no idea but I would certainly be interested in the numbers. There was a general survey for Blairstown a few months ago and one of the questions asked the residents if they would like to see commuter rail service back in the town. IIRC the results were positive, but im not sure what they used that data for. At least its on the towns radar.

[CarterB]

What Money? No commit from the state,who can't fund SEPTA?
STOP at Andover!!!!

Let it come to Blairstown - please

Then we can stop

How much ridership would Blairstown area generate. The extra miles from Andover thru nowhereland to get to Blairstown may not be at all worth it.

I have no idea but I would certainly be interested in the numbers. There was a general survey for Blairstown a few months ago and one of the questions asked the residents if they would like to see commuter rail service back in the town. IIRC the results were positive, but im not sure what they used that data for. At least its on the towns radar.

The entire township has this population
population (2010 Census)[8][9][10]
• Total 5,967
• Estimate (2018)[11] 5,728

So just take a stab at real potential rail commuters daily, fare revenue to Hoboken or Secaucus, and cost of extending from Andover. and yearly maintenance, and i'm sure you will see it's not even close to viable.

[photobug56]

There are a number of reasons to do this all the way to Scranton. The idea is not just to help some commuters here and there, but provide an alternative to driving along an entire corridor. Not just commuters but also vacationers and tourists. The highway corridor is badly oversaturated and being so must generate a lot of air pollution. But if you look at this station by station it will never happen.

It helps that this new study shows that the 'roadway' can be done at a rather decent price. Of course, you also need rolling stock and crews, and ongoing maintenance of it all. You'll also need connecting buses in the Poconos to get people to the resorts - something that Martz Bus (Trailways) might want to take on to replace the revenue they lose when a train takes away their many passengers to NYC. I had many rides years ago between NYC and Scranton (my home town) after I moved to NYC - and it wasn't fun - plus the rides could be very long.

[photobug56]

Take it up with the census bureau I guess?

https://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/tabl ... 0US4242540

As that table shows. lots of long distance commuters. Job situation in NEPA is not great, but it's a decent place to live overall. But I80 and I81 and I380 have been over saturated for many years.