Morris & Essex/Montclair-Boonton west of Hackettstown

Has there been plans at NJT to extend this line past Hackettstown to Phillipsburg? If I remember correctly, it was part of NJT's wish list some time ago. Is the plan still on the drawing board? Extension to Allentown PA perhaps?

You do remember correctly insofar as extending rail service west of Hackettstown into Washington and Phillipsburg being on NJT's 2020 Wish List map. That was over four years or so ago, and even that relatively short stretch of time makes a lot of difference. 2020 is now less than sixteen years away, and there is no EIS being performed for that project, so don't count on it materializing soon.

Rail service into the ABE area? Slim to none. The CNJ main line is being built on in Freemansburg at the very least (between Easton and Bethlehem), which would force passenger trains onto the well-used Lehigh Valley main. The state of PA isn't looking into any such service at this time either—which is unwise considering the growth of the ABE area parallelling that of the Poconos. PA rail lobbies are currently focused on getting the former SEPTA service between Philadelphia and Bethlehem restarted at the very least, so at present I would say they would regard restoration of any rail service to Phillipsburg as enough to serve passengers looking to ride between the ABE area and the NYC area, i.e. without having to press the state of PA for funds to reconnect the service into NJ.

The scope and requirements of an EIS is like a noose around the neck. I'd like to see these things scaled back or abbreviated in order to kick start viable projects.

Does ABE service to Philly 'weight on equal footing' with service to NYC ?

Does ABE service to Philly 'weigh on equal footing' with service to NYC?

I'd say that the former outweighs the latter by about a factor of twenty to one at this stage. I have heard absolutely no noise about trains going from ABE to NY (or the waterfront in NJ), but plenty about the old Reading line to Quakertown and Bethlehem, which ceased service in the early 80s when the Center City Tunnel opened in Philly and Reading Terminal closed. This was a SEPTA diesel service operated by RDCs in its last incarnation; the line still has the R5 running from as far north as Lansdale. Bethlehem is not being helpful insofar as restarting Philly service; they want to turn the old Reading line (still with tracks) into a "greenway", and they have severed the line from the LV and the CNJ just south of Union Station (which a hospital now occupies). The tracks are in through Hellertown and Quakertown, but are severed in Cooperstown at the grade crossing at the old train station.

Personally, I would have liked to see the CNJ main as an all-passenger line with the LVRR as a parallel all-freight line, but what with building houses on the ROW in Freemansburg and on the CNJ main west of Allentown as well, it would take a massive political upheaval to get things that far. Best we could hope for is having trains use the current freight route, going from LV main to CNJ bridge across the Delaware back onto the LV main and back onto the CNJ main in Bethlehem (which is still in use up as far as the Reading bridge). I-78 and US 22 aren't going to be able to sustain the whole thing for much longer...

NJT doesn't seem to have an internal or legislative champion for extending service west of Hackettstown right now, as far as I can tell. Without somebody who can deliver muscle, things tend to languish.

Congressmen Dean Gallo and Bob Roe delivered a lot of help for the Lackawanna re-electric job (and I-287), and Jim Howard paved much of Monmouth country. Rod Frelinghuysen has delivered regular payments into the Cut-Off project, as did Pennsy's Joe McDade. Current Sussex congressman Scott Garrett hasn't taken up the Cut-Off as a priority, and McGreevey rewards his friends (few of whom live in Sussex or Warren counties).

When you lose senioriity in Congress, the ability to deliver pork (whoops, important local projects) disappears.