New Meadowlands Rail Station

NJTRailfan wrote:That's not a bad looking station. I really like it. But even with the rise in sales tax it's only 7%. NY is paying 8.5% while NJ still charges no tax on food and clothing. NY only has that on certain times of the year so we are still cheap. For all of you whiners try live in the Tennesse area where the sales tax is 9%! Then your whinning about the sales tax will stop. Personally if the money from the increase will help get more projects to come on line like the Cutoff, MOM, W Trenton and to close the budget gap then I wouldn't mind if it was raised to 8%.

Honestly people a state sales Tax of 7 or 8% isn't that bad. There are states in the US that are higher then the 9% in Tennesse and as you know the military doesn't pay people as much as the incomes in NJ/NY area. So take it move out!

There is no longer any sales tax in NY on clothing under $110.

NJTRailfan wrote: For all of you whiners try live in the Tennesse area where the sales tax is 9%! Then your whinning about the sales tax will stop. !

That's true, however what are the property taxes like there, in NJ we have the highest property taxes in the Nation.

Note the fare collection turnstiles ala Secaucus Transfer/Newark Airport.



Here's the aerial view.

not sure if this has been said or not, but is this extension a single or double track?

2005Vdub wrote:not sure if this has been said or not, but is this extension a single or double track?

double, 3 track station.

thanks frogger.

to me they should have the pvl turn into the meadowlands spur and run around the complex then have re-entry onto the main line with a Y connection in the area of the rt.3 over pass so main line could run right into the meadowlands spur. doing this will eliminate the original pvl connection on the main and all trackage w/b to the new turn off for the meadowlands.

Anyone know if the west end of the station will use hand-thrown switches or an interlocking?

I wonder if they will leave room along the line to unload and reload the circus animals. The current practice is to unload them on the Long Siding and march them down Paterson Plank Road.

I hope they try to run at least a few direct trains between Raritan and Bay Head for large events. Otherwise they are looking at a 6-train round trip.

Tom V wrote:Note the fare collection turnstiles ala Secaucus Transfer/Newark Airport.



Here's the aerial view.

That's a pretty nice looking station. Hopefully it should help alleviate the traffic in the area.

Tom V, It's close to what NJ is but remeber there are other states in which property taxes are close or right where NJ/NY are is and their sales tax is on or higher then ours. Maybe someone can come up with a list. Tennesse is one.

However Kentucky, Louisiana and Oklahoma have little or no sales tax (home of the bases there I've been to) but property taxes are low but then again theres next nothing out there let along a public trans system esp with Louisiana being one of the poorest states in the nation.

2005Vdub wrote:thanks frogger.

to me they should have the pvl turn into the meadowlands spur and run around the complex then have re-entry onto the main line with a Y connection in the area of the rt.3 over pass so main line could run right into the meadowlands spur. doing this will eliminate the original pvl connection on the main and all trackage w/b to the new turn off for the meadowlands.

The Y from going North to South PVL to the Meadowlands spur will be single tracked. The Y going South to North PVL to the Meadowlands spur will be double tracked. They do plan to cross Route 3 and the Meadowlands but that is a $250MM project to connect to the BCL. If the West Shore is restored that is the southern portion of the West Shore connector.

NJTRailfan wrote:That's not a bad looking station. I really like it. But even with the rise in sales tax it's only 7%. NY is paying 8.5% while NJ still charges no tax on food and clothing. NY only has that on certain times of the year so we are still cheap. For all of you whiners try live in the Tennesse area where the sales tax is 9%! Then your whinning about the sales tax will stop. Personally if the money from the increase will help get more projects to come on line like the Cutoff, MOM, W Trenton and to close the budget gap then I wouldn't mind if it was raised to 8%.

Honestly people a state sales Tax of 7 or 8% isn't that bad. There are states in the US that are higher then the 9% in Tennesse and as you know the military doesn't pay people as much as the incomes in NJ/NY area. So take it or move out!

Unlike NJ and NY, Tennessee does not have a standard income tax. It is limited to dividends and interest income only, per http://www.taxadmin.org/FTA/rate/ind_inc.html.

As to state sales tax...

According to http://www.state.tn.us/revenue/tntaxes/salesanduse.htm:
"TAX RATES
State tax - 6% tax on food and food ingredients; 7% on all other tangible personal property unless specifically exempted. State Single Article Rates - 2.75% on any single item sold in excess of $1,600 but not more than $3,200."

According to http://www.retirementliving.com/RLstate3.html, Tennessee does not have a 9% state sales tax: "State Sales Tax: 7% on tangible property (prescription drugs exempt); 6% on food and food ingredients. Counties and cities may add another 1.5% to 2.75% to the total of either rate"

I thought I read in that one report, whose link someone posted here, that there was not a Park-and-Ride planned for Meadowlands. At first thought that sounds like it might have been a good idea -- just use the same parking lots for the stadium when they're not being used on weekdays. OTOH, the track is only a wye/spur, and you'd need a time-consuming backing move unless it were at the end of the line. Which it would only be for sporting events.

Also, how many people use the nearby Secaucus Transfer station as a Park-n-Ride (do they even have suffiecient parking facilities there?) I guess the theory is if you've driven this far, you may as well continue into the city; better to pick up the train closer to home.

Also, how many people use the nearby Secaucus Transfer station as a Park-n-Ride (do they even have suffiecient parking facilities there?)

They have no parking there, so nobody. The "theory" is that the station is for people transferring between NEC trains and Main/Bergen trains, and that other passengers boarding at Secaucus only would jam up trains so bad that you'd need 20-car bilevels just to fit them all...

In addition, it seems to me that the notion of a park/ride at the Meadowlands would be like the LIRR building a park/ride at its Shea Stadium station (which is well underused anyway, if used at all; never was able to get a train from there to anywhere during any game day).

RailMike wrote: Also, how many people use the nearby Secaucus Transfer station as a Park-n-Ride (do they even have suffiecient parking facilities there?) I guess the theory is if you've driven this far, you may as well continue into the city; better to pick up the train closer to home.

The underlying economic theory is that it is better for NJTransit to collect the higher fare from park and rides further away, than to collect the much lower fare from Secaucus Transfer to NYP, and clog up the trains between those two stations with low fare paying passengers. hence no parking spaces at Secaucus Jct.

They should definitely extend HBLR to meet this station. Maybe if they're really daring they'd extend the NCS there too. But that's probably not going to happen.