Phillipsburg Rail Service—Four Years, $90 Million

There was a good chunk of the CNJ wiped out when I-78 was built after Conrail/NJTRO abandoned P-burg.
There was not enough passengers at the time to retain service,that's when High Bridge became the end of
RVL service.

Backshophoss wrote:There was a good chunk of the CNJ wiped out when I-78 was built after Conrail/NJTRO abandoned P-burg.
There was not enough passengers at the time to retain service,that's when High Bridge became the end of RVL service.

Three trains per day in each direction on weekdays only was not exactly conducive to attracting new passengers or keeping existing passengers. Classic case of degrading service to drive passengers away from it; and of course they illustrated that by having their new F40PH-2s with five or six then-new Comet IIs run to the last station "empty". The CNJ main was/is still connected to the Lehigh Line west of Bloomsbury, so service could have continued if NJT had put some thought into marketing it and not removed the second track through Union Station in Phillipsburg.

amtrakowitz wrote:

Backshophoss wrote:There was a good chunk of the CNJ wiped out when I-78 was built after Conrail/NJTRO abandoned P-burg.
There was not enough passengers at the time to retain service,that's when High Bridge became the end of RVL service.

Three trains per day in each direction on weekdays only was not exactly conducive to attracting new passengers or keeping existing passengers. Classic case of degrading service to drive passengers away from it; and of course they illustrated that by having their new F40PH-2s with five or six then-new Comet IIs run to the last station "empty". The CNJ main was/is still connected to the Lehigh Line west of Bloomsbury, so service could have continued if NJT had put some thought into marketing it and not removed the second track through Union Station in Phillipsburg.

Good points. I imagine it would be more cost effective to run on NS rather west of Bloomsbury rather than resuscitating the old CNJ right of way all the way to the Delaware. But I'm not sure. What did the planning studies have to say about that routing issue?

The CNJ line is severed by the highway so putting it back in would be difficult/expensive.

mtuandrew wrote:

CNJ Fan 4evr wrote:We don't need any more homes around here. They have already "raped" enough farmland.Trouble with P'burg is that not that many people who live in town itself actually travel that far to get to work. This town is full of welfare/ section 8.Why would they need to take the train ?

Those people would need to take the train because

This town is full of welfare/ section 8

and

not that many people who live in town itself actually travel that far

. Train service means that the folks who are currently on welfare and living in Section 8 housing can reliably get to new, better-paying jobs on the other side of NJ, jobs which apparently don't exist in great numbers in Phillipsburg.

neeteheo comd
You need to come here and see for yourself. There are generations of "recipients" in P'burg. The ones who do actually work,work close to town. This is not Westfield or Scotch Plains.

Yes, but the rail service would help them get to better jobs that are not nearby and by extension, help end the "generations of recipients" problem.

CNJ Fan 4evr wrote:

mtuandrew wrote:

CNJ Fan 4evr wrote:We don't need any more homes around here. They have already "raped" enough farmland.Trouble with P'burg is that not that many people who live in town itself actually travel that far to get to work. This town is full of welfare/ section 8.Why would they need to take the train ?

Those people would need to take the train because

This town is full of welfare/ section 8

and

not that many people who live in town itself actually travel that far

. Train service means that the folks who are currently on welfare and living in Section 8 housing can reliably get to new, better-paying jobs on the other side of NJ, jobs which apparently don't exist in great numbers in Phillipsburg.

neeteheo comd
You need to come here and see for yourself. There are generations of "recipients" in P'burg. The ones who do actually work,work close to town. This is not Westfield or Scotch Plains.

You made your point long ago. Repeating an off-topic personal politics sidebar every time a thread gets bumped isn't advancing the discussion of what should or shouldn't be running on the rails one bit.

Mod Note- CNJ, keep the politics out of it or this thread gets a lock. We are not running a political forum here.

A whole second track would have to be installed between at least P'burg and the switch near Bloomsbury.There is no way NS will allow NJT to use its single track main. The cost involved will NOT see a return on investment.Plain and simple. Another issue is where the tracks go. All the Pennsy plated cars on I-78 are not following the RV line. It does not get them where they are going. Horse is dead let's stop beating it.

One other thing that I forgot in previous post. The Hudson tunnel is a much bigger concern . When you have delays caused by an aging infrastructure that is VITAL, that will take a much higher priority over extending the RVL west ,or any other "pipe dream" project.

CNJ Fan 4evr wrote:One other thing that I forgot in previous post. The Hudson tunnel is a much bigger concern . When you have delays caused by an aging infrastructure that is VITAL, that will take a much higher priority over extending the RVL west ,or any other "pipe dream" project

This article seems to claim otherwise.

… But with a $20 billion price tag, would the Hudson River tunnel project cut into any federal funding available for other New Jersey transportation projects?

Probably not, according to Brookings Institution senior fellow Robert Puentes, who said the new tunnel would have such national significance that it likely would not be considered a typical transportation project.

"It's a bit of a hybrid. It's not a straight transit project insofar as it has a heavy component with intercity rail in the form of Amtrak," said Puentes. "It has a peculiar and unique governance structure with Port Authority of New York and New Jersey having a role, with both states then having a role in the Port Authority." …

Hey! Another study. Not 100% on topic, but maybe in the 80s.

http://touch.mcall.com/#section/1993/ar ... -84694213/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

SemperFidelis wrote:Hey! Another study. Not 100% on topic, but maybe in the 80s.

http://touch.mcall.com/#section/1993/ar ... -84694213/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

For the sake of fair use:

If you live in the Lehigh Valley, it’s a good bet that you’ve never heard a neighbor say, ‘I’m taking the train to work.’

Lehigh Valley leaders would like to change that.

The Lehigh Valley Transportation Study on Tuesday launched a major study to determine how passenger rail service fits in the region’s future, and what it would take to make it happen. The “Road to Rail” effort is a move embraced by mayors of all three Valley cities, but one rail advocates know from experience will not be an easy sell.

Easton mayor Sal Panto even stated that he may never see it in his lifetime.
It truly is unbelievable that this country is so far behind all the other major countries of the world in rail transportation. You'd think it would be a no-brainer.

http://www.mcall.com/news/breaking/mc-l ... story.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
ABE (Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton) rail and bus service to Philly and New York.