It's been well documented that NJ Transit has capacity issues at Portal Bridge and the North River tunnels. The pocket track project near Summit station got me thinking... what other capacity improvements could NJT make that would make my commute, as an M&E line traveler, a dreamy breeze?
So, I got to thinking about all of the places where my trains seem to slow down. For the most part, service west of Summit is fairly reliable, save for a random equipment malfunction or a tree across the wires. So, I don't believe a capacity issue really exists west of Summit. Just east of Summit, however, is another issue. When taking an express train west, I find it usually begins to slow down just past Maplewood, then comes to a crawl and eventually a stop just outside of Millburn. Then we "inch" our way up the hill to Summit. For the first 10 years I didn't pay much attention to this, but now I've noticed this daily slow down is highly correlated to where the tracks go from three to two (no laughing at my lack of railroad terminology, or that it took me that long to figure this out).
Looking at a satellite view of the area, it seems that there is an awful lot of private property that would need to be bought up to extend the three track railroad all the way to Summit, which was my initial "aha!" conclusion of what NJT should do. Is there anything else that NJT could do to decrease the effect of this bottleneck? One idea I had was extending the three track to just past Millburn station, so that only Short Hills station would "delay" an express train. Of course, this does't really help that much, since a train would still be blocking the line. Another idea was to install interlockings that would allow, for instance, a westbound express train to pass by a local at Short Hills. But this seems like a complicated maneuver that would ultimately take just as long as sitting behind the local. From a historical perspective, why did they not triple track all the way to Summit? It seems like one of those thorny issues that has a really good reason, but makes for a complication in service that people bang their heads about for hundreds of years.
Another area I've noticed a slow down is approaching Newark Broad Street station from the east. Again, looking at the satellite image - aha! - three tracks to two tracks, then back to three tracks. A bottleneck for sure, given Montclair-Boonton line trains also traverse this part of the road, but this one has a good reason--a very old looking bridge spanning the Passaic River. So, long term, would it make sense for NJT to plan a three track replacement for this bridge, and lay a third track where only two exists now? It seems like they have the room to shoehorn it in.
Putting all of these dreams together: three tracks from Summit to the Northeast Corridor, a new Portal Bridge with four tracks, and a two new rail tunnels to create four tracks into a lovely, airy, new Penn Station in New York City. Just imagine how smooth of a NYC commute that would be!
So, I got to thinking about all of the places where my trains seem to slow down. For the most part, service west of Summit is fairly reliable, save for a random equipment malfunction or a tree across the wires. So, I don't believe a capacity issue really exists west of Summit. Just east of Summit, however, is another issue. When taking an express train west, I find it usually begins to slow down just past Maplewood, then comes to a crawl and eventually a stop just outside of Millburn. Then we "inch" our way up the hill to Summit. For the first 10 years I didn't pay much attention to this, but now I've noticed this daily slow down is highly correlated to where the tracks go from three to two (no laughing at my lack of railroad terminology, or that it took me that long to figure this out).
Looking at a satellite view of the area, it seems that there is an awful lot of private property that would need to be bought up to extend the three track railroad all the way to Summit, which was my initial "aha!" conclusion of what NJT should do. Is there anything else that NJT could do to decrease the effect of this bottleneck? One idea I had was extending the three track to just past Millburn station, so that only Short Hills station would "delay" an express train. Of course, this does't really help that much, since a train would still be blocking the line. Another idea was to install interlockings that would allow, for instance, a westbound express train to pass by a local at Short Hills. But this seems like a complicated maneuver that would ultimately take just as long as sitting behind the local. From a historical perspective, why did they not triple track all the way to Summit? It seems like one of those thorny issues that has a really good reason, but makes for a complication in service that people bang their heads about for hundreds of years.
Another area I've noticed a slow down is approaching Newark Broad Street station from the east. Again, looking at the satellite image - aha! - three tracks to two tracks, then back to three tracks. A bottleneck for sure, given Montclair-Boonton line trains also traverse this part of the road, but this one has a good reason--a very old looking bridge spanning the Passaic River. So, long term, would it make sense for NJT to plan a three track replacement for this bridge, and lay a third track where only two exists now? It seems like they have the room to shoehorn it in.
Putting all of these dreams together: three tracks from Summit to the Northeast Corridor, a new Portal Bridge with four tracks, and a two new rail tunnels to create four tracks into a lovely, airy, new Penn Station in New York City. Just imagine how smooth of a NYC commute that would be!
