Lackawanna Cutoff Passenger Service Restoration

What's the name of the bridge/viaduct that crosses the Delaware Water Gap (Penn/Jersey state line) that I-80 threads under)?

Arlington wrote:What's the name of the bridge/viaduct that crosses the Delaware Water Gap (Penn/Jersey state line) that I-80 threads under)?

The Delaware River Viaduct.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delaware_River_Viaduct

New update on Cutoff in N J Herald -- today's issue on page A-9

Bill S

Bill S wrote:New update on Cutoff in N J Herald -- today's issue on page A-9

Bill S

what does it say? i looked online and found nothing.

Steve F45 wrote:

Bill S wrote:New update on Cutoff in N J Herald -- today's issue on page A-9

Bill S

what does it say? i looked online and found nothing.

Update on Lackawanna Cutoff Project
Freeholder Susan Zellman said she had received an email from the state Department of Environment Protection saying it has
received the formal waiver request from NJ Transit for the proposed Andover train station, the first stoop on the Lackawanna Cutoff line.
Although the station's design and layout had been approved, the DEP recently raised objections since the project is within 300 feet of a waterway classified as C-1, the highest designation for freshwater streams.
The designation was made after the station was proposed, and some people have noted the stream is manmade and not natural, and the designation is not appropriate.
the Lackawanna Cutoff is an old railroad right-of-way that crosses southern Sussex County and travels through the Delaware Water Gap, into Pennsylvania, ending at Scranton.
With other environmental constraints, clearing of the land for the station must be done in the wintertime, but can't be started until the decision on the waiver is made.
Some of the tracks have already been put down, but work was stopped because of the issue with the station to be located on Roseville Road.

Bill S

When will construction finally begin on the remaining portion between Andover & Scranton. I would really like to see rail service return to Scranton for the first time since January 1970.

It's going to be a while.

Just out of curiosity, why do you want to see service to Scranton restored? Why is that important to you?

Even though I know there is nothing new at all to see, I'll drive by while I'm home this week and report the lack of work I see

Tommy, this project is important to more then just one person, it benefits all who live in the areas the line will travel through in two states and ease traffic for those who travel to work via Rts 46,80,10,etc The congestion even on the back roads will only increase and get much worse. 6 lanes on each side of the highways will not happen but this service can happen. It's time to stop messing around, pull out the red tape BS and make it happen! As a long time resident of Morris County it will help my area tremendously with the traffic. I can only hope the line is also electrified or the locomotives running on this line are dual mode for a 1 seat ride into NYP.

I never said it was just one person interested in seeing the route revived. I was just curious as to what the OP's reasons were. Now I'm not saying he falls into this category, but nobody ever says, 'I want to see the service restored because I like trains. I want to know its there even though I probably won't use it. I want to be able to see it and take an occasional ride.' I'm sure many of the people who are chafing at the bit to see the service restarted fall into that category. They just never say that.

I admit I don't see the resumption of Hoboken (or Penn Station)-Scranton rail passenger service as being of critical importance to the region. I'm not sure the route -- whenever it gets built -- will have much visible affect on traffic. The trains will probably only be of service to a relatively minute portion of the people currently driving those roads NJTRailfan mentioned.

I'm not against it, however, not at all. It will at least give some of the current commuters an alternative to driving. More importantly in my opinion it will allow developers and New Jersey to target future commercial growth along the rail corridor, smart growth, that will provide commuters the option of taking the train rather than drive.

The thing with me is, I go back far enough to remember when there still were passenger trains running between Hoboken and Scranton. Though by the time I was old enough to have gone out there and ridden them it required an overnight layover in Scranton. There was no longer a westbound morning train. Just The Lake Cities departing Hoboken about 7 PM. I did see it depart several times and it was usually pretty empty.

I realize things have changed.

The Original Poster to this topic checks in.

How in any kind of conscience could anyone reasonably expect that anyone within NJT's management is even giving a flicker of thought to this Andover extension at this time escapes me.

It is hard to think of any rail passenger agency in history confronted with a service disruption as severe as that confronting NJT at this time.

Great news, the Cutoff is finally being used and is seeing trains!

As a storage track.

The ALP44's that were previously stored in Port Morris have been shoved onto the Cutoff to make room in the yard for flooded cars. The cut starts just west of Center Street (on the western half of the east leg of the wye) and goes approximately a quarter mile to the west. There's no way to get an exact count from public property, but it looked like most, if not all of them would have been there.



(Sorry about the image quality, but it was the best I could do though the woods)

For those interested in seeing them, they are easily viewable from public roads during the winter months. The best viewing locations would be Center Street in Landing (across from the entrance to the yard) and the intersection of Milton Ave and Janice St in Hopatcong.

I guess that's going to be the cut-off's living for 5 years

Has NJT aborted the project or something because there is NO progress since 2012.

This project seems to be worked on as time and avaible materials permit,considering the repairs after Sandy
are continuing,this has been put on the "back burner" untill NJT can comit with "in house" personel and materials.
The "permitting process" must run it's course as well, for better of worse.