Article about railroad from Scranton to NJ (Dover, Roseville: mover, movies)

[FuturePAMover]

Realizing that it's not coming any time soon, but at least it's a little progress!
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The North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority is getting set to take a step next week toward redeveloping a 7.3-mile stretch of the Lackawanna Cutoff and, ultimately, to extend NJ Transit rail service to a new station in Andover.

When complete, the estimated $36.6 million rail line would be the first project to redevelop a section of the cutoff, an 88-mile rail right-of-way from Roxbury to Scranton, Pa., that is seen as an important future commuter rail route.

The NJTPA board is scheduled to hold a teleconference at 1 p.m. Tuesday to address the approval of the project from Port Morris to Andover.

Port Morris is an old Morris Canal stop on the southern end of Lake Hopatcong, just west of the current NJ Transit station in the Landing section of Roxbury.

The Lackawanna Cutoff right-of-way extends west out of an NJ Transit train yard at Port Morris.

"This is a great sign of progress," NJTPA chairwoman and Sussex County Freeholder Susan Zellman said on Thursday. "Access to public transportation, especially rail, is critically important for the future of Sussex County."

NJTPA spokesman David Behrend said the board's action is a technical step to set the eventual funding of the project in motion.

The vote will add the project to the NJTPA's long-range plan -- a step necessary to obtain funding from the Federal Transportation Administration, which is available, Behrend said.

The Port Morris-Andover project is included in a section called "fiscally constrained projects," which means that federal funds will be available because of the smaller scope of the project.

This type of project is called a "minimum operable segment" -- a term than means that NJ Transit has said it can be built with a limited amount of capital investment and additional operating expense, according to the NJTPA resolution supporting the project.

The estimated cost of the full Lackawanna Cutoff project is $551 million. Behrend said that by funding smaller segments one at a time, NJ Transit could move the larger cutoff plan ahead.

NJTPA describes the Port Morris-Andover project as a spur off the outer end of NJ Transit's Montclair-Boonton Line. A single track would be built along the existing right-of-way, and trains using the rail yard at Port Morris would travel back and forth to Andover. One grade crossing would be built at Brooklyn-Stanhope Road.

At the planned Andover station, a single high-level platform and shelter would be built on the south side of Roseville Road, between the road and the rail line. The site is undeveloped, located within the state's railroad right-of-way. A 65-space parking lot also would be built.

Passengers boarding in Andover could travel to Hoboken on the Montclair-Boonton line, or switch at Dover to the Morris and Essex line, including Midtown Direct service starting at Dover.

Ultimately, the potential exists to run trains between Andover and Midtown Manhattan, using dual-mode locomotives instead of diesel locomotives once the Access to the Region's Core project -- the third rail tunnel from New Jersey to Manhattan -- is completed as proposed in 2017.

[Retired Law 08]

Originally Posted by FuturePAMover

Realizing that it's not coming any time soon, but at least it's a little progress!
****************************************
The North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority is getting set to take a step next week toward redeveloping a 7.3-mile stretch of the Lackawanna Cutoff and, ultimately, to extend NJ Transit rail service to a new station in Andover.

When complete, the estimated $36.6 million rail line would be the first project to redevelop a section of the cutoff, an 88-mile rail right-of-way from Roxbury to Scranton, Pa., that is seen as an important future commuter rail route.

The NJTPA board is scheduled to hold a teleconference at 1 p.m. Tuesday to address the approval of the project from Port Morris to Andover.

Port Morris is an old Morris Canal stop on the southern end of Lake Hopatcong, just west of the current NJ Transit station in the Landing section of Roxbury.

The Lackawanna Cutoff right-of-way extends west out of an NJ Transit train yard at Port Morris.

"This is a great sign of progress," NJTPA chairwoman and Sussex County Freeholder Susan Zellman said on Thursday. "Access to public transportation, especially rail, is critically important for the future of Sussex County."

NJTPA spokesman David Behrend said the board's action is a technical step to set the eventual funding of the project in motion.

The vote will add the project to the NJTPA's long-range plan -- a step necessary to obtain funding from the Federal Transportation Administration, which is available, Behrend said.

The Port Morris-Andover project is included in a section called "fiscally constrained projects," which means that federal funds will be available because of the smaller scope of the project.

This type of project is called a "minimum operable segment" -- a term than means that NJ Transit has said it can be built with a limited amount of capital investment and additional operating expense, according to the NJTPA resolution supporting the project.

The estimated cost of the full Lackawanna Cutoff project is $551 million. Behrend said that by funding smaller segments one at a time, NJ Transit could move the larger cutoff plan ahead.

NJTPA describes the Port Morris-Andover project as a spur off the outer end of NJ Transit's Montclair-Boonton Line. A single track would be built along the existing right-of-way, and trains using the rail yard at Port Morris would travel back and forth to Andover. One grade crossing would be built at Brooklyn-Stanhope Road.

At the planned Andover station, a single high-level platform and shelter would be built on the south side of Roseville Road, between the road and the rail line. The site is undeveloped, located within the state's railroad right-of-way. A 65-space parking lot also would be built.

Passengers boarding in Andover could travel to Hoboken on the Montclair-Boonton line, or switch at Dover to the Morris and Essex line, including Midtown Direct service starting at Dover.

Ultimately, the potential exists to run trains between Andover and Midtown Manhattan, using dual-mode locomotives instead of diesel locomotives once the Access to the Region's Core project -- the third rail tunnel from New Jersey to Manhattan -- is completed as proposed in 2017.

where is this article from?

[FuturePAMover]

It's on the front page of the Daily Record - which is Morris County's newspaper. You can go to Daily Record | Daily Record | Morris County news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Morris County, NJ to view it on the actual site.

[Retired Law 08]

Originally Posted by FuturePAMover

It's on the front page of the Daily Record - which is Morris County's newspaper. You can go to Daily Record | Daily Record | Morris County news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Morris County, NJ to view it on the actual site.

excellent! good article

[Retired Law 08]

Here is another article on the railway...
The Times-Tribune - Conduct summit on passenger rail

[WatsonWest]

It's good to hear of some progress with the commuter rail.
I would think people will be screaming for it soon, with the gas prices doing nothing but increasing.

My husband works for NJ Transit rail service, but they are the last ot know what is going on. Maybe the Scranton yard will be ready before he's ready to retire! Port Jervis is a long drive.

[The Commish]

Too bad it's not high speed.

[61scout80]

So how long would the commute be between scranton and NYC with this line?



While speaking or rail, i find this ironic. In the history of the wyoming valley all the street car rails were torn up and turned into roads. Currently in downtown phoenix the roads are being torn up and a light rail (trolly) service is being put in....

[W-B proud]

I don't get what is the big deal about the train to Nj. It would be nice to have another form of transportation to NYC, but unless it's hi-speed, I think it's a collosal waste of money. Wasn't it estimated that only 11 people a day would ride the train from Scranton? Now, how many hundreds of millions of dollars do they want to spend to make sure 11 people can ride a train to and from NYC? They are 11 very lucky people for the government to be spending that much money on them! Besides The Martz Bus Lines already run to NYC several times a day. They're relatively cheap, the train would take just about as long as the bus, and they play movies on the way! The train would just be like a Martz bus on rails, wouldn't it? I just don't understand the hoopla over these trains?!? Unless I'm missing something. Is it gonna be super cheap? Is it gonna shave a huge amount of time off of the commute? I don't know, unless it's hi-speed, I just can't see spending the millions and millions of dollars on this project. It seems like a massive waste of money to me. Hi-speed yes! average speed No! That's my two cents.

[Summering]

I read the article and it was just an ordinary line. So it would be a slow, slow, trip heading to NYC.
There needs to be a Hi-speed train for sure, and that isn't happening..........
We are behind other countries on that, its a shame.