MOM Rail Service

M&Eman wrote:

morris&essex4ever wrote: And with there being no slots left into NYP and no new tunnels in the forseeable future, MOM service certainly won't be going into NYC.

You could extend the Jersey Ave trains assuming the Route 1Park & Ride in North Brunswick gets built...

Good idea, but problem is is that the Jersey Ave trains have some of the heaviest ridership on the railroad. There is no room for any more passengers on most of them to be extended for MOM or whatever to whereever.

Its quite a conundrum....

Any developement on this?

No.

Once-proposed Monmouth-Ocean-Middlesex rail line gathers dust

http://www.nj.com/monmouth/index.ssf/20 ... ation.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

As commuters spend more of their time stuck in traffic, plans for NJ Transit trains to run through central Monmouth County have gone off the rails.

No progress has been made on a proposed line that would serve communities like Marlboro, Freehold, Howell, Lakehurst and Manchester, dubbed the “Monmouth-Ocean-Middlesex” line by rail planners, appears to be dead in the water.

“At this time the Monmouth-Ocean-Middlesex project remains on-hold due to a lack of funding,” NJ Transit spokesman William Smith said.

It looks like I get the "1000th" post in this thread too!!!

At any rate, here is another positive step for the MOM line:


EDITORIAL: Don't abandon hope on MOM rail line

Please allow a brief "fair use" quote:

http://www.app.com/article/20140414/NJO ... -rail-line" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It’s back — and the need for it is greater than ever.

Earlier this week, Ocean County transit advocates asked state transportation officials to safeguard a portion of a freight line right of way that could be used for the moribund Monmouth-Ocean-Middlesex (MOM) commuter rail line in western Monmouth and Middlesex counties.

After three decades of debate on the subject and five years since there was any action at all on the issue, this is a positive sign.

Transportation Commissioner James Simpson agreed that the property for a future MOM line should be protected, but stopped short of any further commitment to one of three MOM routes. So the project remains in limbo, where the expense of it might keep it for a long time.

But that doesn’t negate the need for such a railway, nor the benefits it would bring. It is time to begin to look at the MOM line again with fresh eyes. With Ocean County’s continued population growth, it won’t be long until commuters outgrow the latest infrastructure improvements to the Garden State Parkway, and the need for expanded commuter rail service will become even more acute.

It is s small step but an important one.

What section needs safeguarding, the OOS segment east of Freehold?

Has there been any discussion on whether this line would be electrified or not? I know it's still too early into the process to know for sure if it would go that way but has that option even been discussed on a more-than-just-us-railfans level?

MattW wrote:Has there been any discussion on whether this line would be electrified or not? I know it's still too early into the process to know for sure if it would go that way but has that option even been discussed on a more-than-just-us-railfans level?

All 3 alternatives would be diesel, with transfers at either Monmouth Junction or Newark. There isn't much of a point for electrification when you have the ALP 45s.

Out of curiousity how much of the line is actually intact? Meaning could they run something through there now or would there need to be substantial work even to get a train through at this point? I know it's all a pipe-dream and a "wouldn't it be great if..." at this point, but I'm curious as to what is still there in a usable condition...

BigDell wrote:Out of curiousity how much of the line is actually intact? Meaning could they run something through there now or would there need to be substantial work even to get a train through at this point? I know it's all a pipe-dream and a "wouldn't it be great if..." at this point, but I'm curious as to what is still there in a usable condition...

I believe trains technically can run on it, but it would be very slow, aka 20 mph or slower. Therefore, it would need a major overhaul: new signals, bridges, crossings, ballast, tracks, etc.

You could run a scoot service at low speeds. If some ties were replaced and some ballasting done the speed could be bumped up to 40-60mph maybe, where there are no crossings. Many of the crossings have nothing other than flashing lights and will probably need gates to bring the speeds up.

No signals at all on the line, so signals and passing sidings would be needed to operate more than one train at once. Its currently mostly all single track all the way down.

ApproachMedium wrote:You could run a scoot service at low speeds. If some ties were replaced and some ballasting done the speed could be bumped up to 40-60mph maybe, where there are no crossings. Many of the crossings have nothing other than flashing lights and will probably need gates to bring the speeds up.

No signals at all on the line, so signals and passing sidings would be needed to operate more than one train at once. Its currently mostly all single track all the way down.

I guess that could be feasible, but I wonder how much even that would cost. Either way, NJT would still try to find a way to make the MOM Line ridiculously expensive. Regarding this project, NJT should really just start the project from scratch with a fresh start for once. Alternatives could be DMU shuttles or something else cost effective but this project is probably the Newtown Line of NJT unfortunately.

New signaling installed would have to be PTC, and most likely be 562 also. The 562 would save a bit in cost because of the lack of wayside automatics, but where it saves the cost for PTC components will surely eat it up.

ApproachMedium wrote:...but where it saves the cost for PTC components will surely eat it up.

And from what I hear about the cost, and then some!

With the exception of the Princeton Dinky line, NJT is not a fan of running a passenger railroad with DCS (Form D) rules. Other passenger railroads do this, but I can't see NJT doing this outside of emergencies (heck, even in emergencies it seems NJT doesn't like issuing Form Ds.)

As far as starting new rail line service, the company's policy has been for many years in doing things right. It's all or nothing. Yes, they could have started service on lines such as the MOM years ago without signaling to save costs but they won't do that. Now with the advent of PTC (and the unfortunate Metro North incident), it is going to be a must. I'm hearing various reports of how much PTC will cost and the numbers are wide and varied. Regardless of whether the cost will be astronomical or just very expensive, it is going to cost a great deal to implement.

Im was just wondering: which alternative works best? I heard the Freehold-Matawan alternative isn't the best because of the Henry Hudson Trail on site (and NIMBYs). The Monmouth juction alternative seems pretty reasonable option to use due to its location near areas of limited rail service, but it diverges onto the NEC which is busy already!

A possible alternative that I think should work could be to go to South Amboy via the Amboy Secondary and Jamesburg. NJT can use the catenary poles that are currently still standing as electrification. Anyone agree?