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On a side note, I would like to discuss how I developed my interest for trains and mechanical engineering.
My interest for trains started when I was 3 years old. When I lived in Chennai, India as a small child, I frequently visited my grandparents in Tambaram, a suburb of Chennai. Tambaram is a Major Railway station situated along the Southern Railways Main Line. The station deals with both commuter rail and intercity rail traffic. As a little child, every weekend I visited Tambaram, I made it a point to visit the train stations and see the variety of trains passing through. My grandpa was kind enough to take me there every Saturday evening and tell me in detail about every train passing through, and its history. This childhood experience was etched in my memory and led me to develop a lifelong interest for trains. I claimed that I did not want to just see trains, but design them when I was an adult. My grandpa advised me to become a mechanical engineer if I had such a heavy interest in trains. This piece of advice propelled me to develop a keen interest in physics and mathematics during my high school years, and apply for a mechanical engineering program at Rutgers University. Nevertheless, I got selected due to my academic achievements in school and my passion for mechanical engineering. Currently, here I am in my senior year at Rutgers learning the aerodynamics and materials involved in constructing high speed transportation vehicles like planes and bullet trains. Hopefully, the day will come when I undertake the responsibility of directing a design team on how to build high speed train sets.
Here is something I have thought about ever since riding the monorail at WDW.
How about designing a monorail loop that runs right down the center of the I78 roadway from western NJ all the way to the Path yards in JC. This could be extended further out into PA as the need increases.
Place stations in strategic locations along the way with plenty of parking.
Here is something I have thought about ever since riding the monorail at WDW.
How about designing a monorail loop that runs right down the center of the I78 roadway from western NJ all the way to the Path yards in JC. This could be extended further out into PA as the need increases.
Place stations in strategic locations along the way with plenty of parking.
That's great idea, BUT nothing like that ever gets built around here.
I had a friend who back in the 1980's was telling me about the monorail that was going to be built from the Pocono's through NJ to NYC down the middle of I-80,,,,sure! Any century now.
You'd have more of a chance of getting a few million to "study" this every ten years or so. Building it???? OK
That's great idea, BUT nothing like that ever gets built around here.
I had a friend who back in the 1980's was telling me about the monorail that was going to be built from the Pocono's through NJ to NYC down the middle of I-80,,,,sure! Any century now.
You'd have more of a chance of getting a few million to "study" this every ten years or so. Building it???? OK
Another thing about monorails is that they are quite expensive to build over long distances. Who is going to build a 75 mile long bridge along I 78. China spends crazily on infrastructural development and yet they are only able to manage a 44 mile transit system using monorail. We are talking about double that distance here, which is why it is better to build heavy rail.
PDD, many heavy rail sites I have newly planned do lie near large vacant lots which can be converted into parking space for the commuters. Freeway medians may not be such a great Idea east of the GSP since I 78 medians are not wide enough and there is no space for constructing parking lots.
In my opinion the West Trenton Line would be a one-seat ride from Philadelphia to Bridgewater, NJ. From that point, passengers can transfer to the Raritan Valley Line. It should be similar to how NJT and Metro North both run the Main Line. SEPTA should run the trains while NJT would own the tracks from Ewing to Bridgewater. This whole process would boost ridership significantly. It would also improve transportation between the New York and Philadelphia metro areas.
In my opinion the West Trenton Line would be a one-seat ride from Philadelphia to Bridgewater, NJ. From that point, passengers can transfer to the Raritan Valley Line. It should be similar to how NJT and Metro North both run the Main Line. SEPTA should run the trains while NJT would own the tracks from Ewing to Bridgewater. This whole process would boost ridership significantly. It would also improve transportation between the New York and Philadelphia metro areas.
If SEPTA has money to electrify the line till bound brook or purchase new DMU's, then there will be no problem. I prefer transfer at bound brook junction as opposed to bridgewater since transfer like facilities already exist from the old CNJ railroad facilities. All that needs to be done is renovation work. Recall that SEPTA does not have DMU or diesel locomotives to run their trains on non electrified tracks.
Bumping this thread from the dead, but I saw earlier today that off-peak one seat rides begin March 2nd
Much more ridership for this line will be garnered if peak hour service towards NYC were improved. However, the gateway project needs to break ground first. Only then can we improve rail service reliability across the northeastern region. For now, off peak direct services (Done by ALP 45 DP's I presume) will help improve ridership during the off peak hours.
I agree, do you happen to know when the Gateway project breaks ground?
As of Now, its planned to be finished by 2025. All the information about Amtrak's Plan of the NEC is presented in the PDF below. I predict that by 2033, the Raritan valley line will be electrified till Raritan if demand suffices.
Weekdays only, 10AM-2PM inbound, 11AM-3PM outbound. If it goes well, expanding it to 8PM-1AM time period as well.
So at present, it looks like 4-5 trains per day in each direction. If they put in the nighttime expansion, another 4-5. Not much, but it's an improvement over what we've got now.
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