West Shore restoration (aka "real" River Line)

Is this study still ongoing? it appears to have one lone page on the NJT website.....

http://www.njtransit.com/an_cp_project010.shtml

Looks like they're waiting for their 'project update' to see if they have a reason to pursue an EIS. They are also weighing their options as far as funneling this line into the new ARC tunnel.

why the hell does everything have to go thru this dam tunnel? not everyone goes to midtown manhattan.

while this is true, not everyone goes to midtown, njt's ridership figures beg to differ.

and also, its not just about midtown. its also about easier transfers to the LIRR and Amtrak. To be frank, no one is going to go into Hoboken and take the Path to 33rd just to catch the Long Beach or Albany trains at NYP. I don't support the tunnel, but I'm just trying to play both sides

the map on njt's site shows the connection better than I thought it would be. my idea was to run through secaucus, then at the bergen curve, split off to harmon cove, then tunnel underneath all the meadows. glad njt had more common sense!

firthorfifth06 wrote: the map on njt's site shows the connection better than I thought it would be. my idea was to run through secaucus, then at the bergen curve, split off to harmon cove, then tunnel underneath all the meadows. glad njt had more common sense!

Given this map as shown at the NJT site, they won't have to do anything special to get to Penn Station. They can just loop the loop at Secaucus to get to the ARC tunnel.

I really don't understand everyone's hatred of all things ARC on the basis of "not everything needs to go to midtown" and that "NJT should focus on intra-state travel." By sending trains through Secaucus, it helps intrastate travel and midtown service. In the case of the West Shore, by sending it through Secaucus, it can be connected to the loop tracks at no extra cost as Jishnu noted. By sending other services i.e. WORM, RVL, etc. through Secaucus on their way to Midtown, it makes every train station in north jersey two seats away from any other station in north jersey. This would benefit intrastate travel far more than sending trains to HOB.

Jishnu, my idea there was simply how the heck to route trains to the existing line from secaucus, not get them into midtown :-p

firthorfifth06 wrote:Jishnu, my idea there was simply how the heck to route trains to the existing line from secaucus, not get them into midtown :-p

I believe the plan was/is to leave the current alignment at undercliff, go along the western Turnpike spur to the Meadowlands, go through the Meadowlands train station and along the possible meadowlands rail link phase two (from the station to the BCL, also roughly following the Turnpike ROW).

The old freight line that runs through closter, is run by CSX. It is in dire need of work. But it is still an active line with freight service, every now and then. It runs down past englewood hospital and down past teaneck, and from what I know eventually connects with the CSX "River line", going down to the ports in Newark(I think). If they had passenger service on that old line, I'd take it. I love old train lines, and you get to see all the old sidings as well. The CSX "River line" runs through harrington park, and goes up past Catskill NY to albany and beyond. Used to be passenger service on both those lines and they took you to NYC. I'd ride those lines and love every minute of it. Thing is the CSX "River line" is the main freight line in the northeast. Maybe the closter branch would work, but in either case I'm all for old lines being reactivated.

"airman00" Those tracks through never had any relationship with the RIVERLINE (Locally known as the "West Shore" )

Oiginally that line was built as the "Northern Railroad of NJ. Those tracks were then leased to the ERIE. In 1936 passenger trains were scheduled to make 19 daily round trips.

I, with much help of NJ-ARP, and as a member of the Transit Committee have been working for 25 years to restore service on the Northern Branch, as it is now known. To find the current status of the project go to
http://northernbranchcorridor.com/.

After that, to join our battle, write me at >[email protected]< we need all the help we an get to push NJ Transit to do the right thing. Meanwhile, we also need to convince some ignorant politicians and a few NIMBYs about restoring this much needed passenger service. Just put your phone number in your email and you will be able to help speed up the project.

Al Cafiero

Had an idea about this....
I realize it will cost tremendous money but why not have the west shore line be run with light rail cars from tonnelle up to orangeburg new York border with nj? In addition have mta use eminent domain in the sparkill/orangeburg area to connect the west shore line with the csx river line to new burgh NY and have heavy rail (run by metro north) from Hoboken to orange burg (bypassing NJ LRT stops) and all the way up to new burgh? Proposed stops would include newburgh west point bear mountain haverstraw palisades mall and a transfer station somewhere in sparkill for local nj light rail service. I am aware that the proposal was to go only as far as englewood but from what I understand eastern orange rockland and Bergen are in dire need of rail service. Of course no secaucus connection would be possible, which is one problem.

This will require a connection track from CSX/CASO "KW" tower site to NJT's "West End Jct" to
reach Hoboken.
The real trick to this is getting CSX to play along nicely,CSX River Line is a busy freight route to/from Selkirk.

The River Line is the only freight route CSX has in the area going south from Selkirk. They are not going to let you run passenger trains on it ever. You cannot get away with putting more tracks because the right of way is not wide enough for more. Also there is no point in duplicating the Hudson line on the other side of the river. Just forget it, let them run the freight there and be happy that there is still some freight in the area as opposed to everything being trucked to NYC.

As for Rockland and Bergen counties the two problems are called NIMBYs and capital money. If the NIMBYs let the restoration of the Piedmont branch, double tracking the Pascack Valley line, extension of the unbuilt Bergen light rail to Nyack on the former Erie Line (currently a trail in NY) and grade separation of the lines where appropriate you will provide Bergen and Rockland all the rail capacity they could ever need. There is no need to take the only through freight line left in the area for passenger service to places which will not generate enough ridership (such as Newburgh and West Point).

Now let this thread die a well deserved death...

I agree. I don't think there's been any serious talk or even study of using the West Shore in years. And in reference to the Piermont ( ) branch (aka Monsey line and Suffern Industrial), here's a thread on it:

Piermont Branch (Original Erie Main Line)

Please keep in mind that the former West Shore is now officially named the River Sub, so you will no longer have any difficulty
differentiating it from the RiverLINE, between Trenton and Camden.

Lee