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Reviving passenger service between West Trenton & Bound Brook

Discussion related to New Jersey Transit rail and light rail operations.

Moderators: lensovet, Kaback9, nick11a

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 #86756  by Bensalem SEPTA rider
 
Here's where the West Trenton line is going to get it's REAL ridership:

The SEPTA R3 West Trenton train has a bus connection to Newtown/Holland. The train alos stops in the heart of Yardley, PA. These are two HUGE NYC bound commuter areas. They need to build this line NOW! Anyone got an idea of when the first shovel will be hitting the ground?

 #86778  by themallard
 
AKelley728 wrote:
Lackawanna484 wrote:There's quite a few people already using the Princeton Jct station who have PA license plates. I'd guess there are some (many?) at Lawrence, too. And, Trenton has always had a lot of PA plates in the rip-off lots near the station.
Lawrence? You mean Hamilton, right?

Anyway, I use Hamilton everyday, and I would say that at least 10-20% of the cars are from PA.
There wa a Lawrence station oh so long ago.. there still is a Lawrence Station Road...

 #86786  by Irish Chieftain
 
Bensalem SEPTA rider wrote:Here's where the West Trenton line is going to get its REAL ridership:

The SEPTA R3 West Trenton train has a bus connection to Newtown/Holland. The train also stops in the heart of Yardley, PA. These are two HUGE NYC bound commuter areas
If this were actually the case, then West Trenton service would never have ceased, even with the closing of Reading Terminal.

 #87184  by Bensalem SEPTA rider
 
I believe West Trenton service ceased in the 80's. Back then, much of what is now suburban NYC commuters land was farm land and most commuters we're Philly bound. Same goes for Somerset and Mercer counties. Now the market is ripe for the picking. Where I live in Bensalem, I could walk to the R3 and I know I would take good advatage of the new connection to NYC.

West trenton info

 #95998  by hioo1
 
Hi guys, I live in Hopewell (right across the street from the tracks actualy) and I was wondering if you guys have any more info about reactivating the line and if they do, where the stations and such will be (like streets and such). Since I have been interested in this project for a while and am quite excited about it.

 #96106  by JLo
 
Take a look at NJT's webpage, which has some of its proposed capital projects listed.

Here is the URL for the West Trenton project. It is clearly out of date, but gives you an idea of the project's scope.

 #96131  by zakharin
 
Just out of curiosity, why was the RVL connection to Elizabeth abandoned?

 #96231  by JLo
 
Long story, having to do with the initiation in 1967 of the Aldene Plan which routed CNJ trains onto the Lehigh Valley and into Newark Penn and the later elimination of the Newark Bay Bridge. There are many threads and a real CNJ-buff can tell you much more.

 #96251  by hioo1
 
JLo wrote:Here is the URL for the West Trenton project. It is clearly out of date, but gives you an idea of the project's scope.
Yeah, that has been one of the only things I have been able to find. I was just wondering if there is any new concrete information.

 #96306  by Camelback
 
JLo wrote:
zakharin wrote:Just out of curiosity, why was the RVL connection to Elizabeth abandoned?
Long story, having to do with the initiation in 1967 of the Aldene Plan which routed CNJ trains onto the Lehigh Valley and into Newark Penn and the later elimination of the Newark Bay Bridge. There are many threads and a real CNJ-buff can tell you much more.
Prior to the elimination of the Newark Bay Bridge there was a train which ran over the former CNJ mainline from Cranford to Bayonne. The train was usually a pair of Budd RDCs and was nicknamed the Bayonne Scoot. My memories of the Scoot are that it had not so great ontime performance record because Newark Bay drawbridge openings caused regular delays. NJT eliminated it because there were several parallel bus lines between Cranford and Elizabeth. I used to take it to visit my Dad at work.

When the CNJ went into bankrupcy for the final time they came up with a plan for survival. They would sell off most of their mainline between Elizabeth and Philipsburg to NJDOT and focus on their SeaLand terminal in Elizabeth port. They would operate over the Chemical Coast, interchange with other railroads and, perhaps, get permission from NJDOT to do some local freight drills over their former mainline. The SeaLand terminal was one of their few profitable innovations. However, passenger rail was a real money loser for them and customers along the former mainline were declining every year. The line between Aldene and Elizabeth has been out of service since at least the mid 1980's. Union County, however, has been hoping to have some form of passenger rail along that route since the demise of the Scoot and things like light rail and extension of PATH have been proposed over the years.

My dream HO layout is Aldene era CNJ with one line going from Cranford to Elizabeth Port and the other from Cranford to Newark Penn. Not too many CNJ modelers want to recreate the waning days of the Jersey Central but post Aldene is the only CNJ I ever knew.

 #97177  by Ken W2KB
 
Camelback wrote:My memories of the Scoot are that it had not so great ontime performance record because Newark Bay drawbridge openings caused regular delays.
A lot of the delays resulted from freight switching in Elizabeth. Ultimately the bridge was abandoned and removed because the Port Authority, supported by the Coast Guard, wanted to be able to have larger ships access Ports Newark and Elizabeth. The larger ships could not fit thru Bay Draw.

Content-less but relevant update

 #243478  by Mercer&Somerset
 
From the Princeton Packet
In a related development, the township — along with Hillsborough and the state — continues to look into the feasibility of bringing the former West Trenton passenger railroad service back to life.

"Both municipalities would like to see the West Trenton line reactivated for commuter rail service," the mayor said.

Two stations have been proposed in the area, one in Hillsborough near Amwell Road, the other in the Belle Mead Node area in Montgomery.

Montgomery is still in the beginning stages of discussing design concepts for the stop, Township Administrator Donato Nieman said.

"It's an ongoing thing," Mr. Nieman said. "We'd like to see the next step, but it's a while off."

 #243779  by NJTRailfan
 
Is it possible to rebuild the Bay Bridge? Maybe not in it's old form but in the way of Modern Technology A Cable Stay Bridge smiliar to that of the Bridge in Florida and the one beign used with the Boston's Big Dig could go up in the old spot. If so this would certaintly be a boon since it would be used as a rail bridge and can be used to restore rail service to that part of Jersey city and you could even win over the environmentalists and peopel in the area if you dedicated a certain part for a hiking/biking path on the bridge. This would certaintly be a first in the Nation that a Cable Stay Bridge would not be used by vehciles but rather mass transit and a rec trail but a first for the Tri State Area of using a Cable Stay Bridge.

If Boston, Florida has one and the new section of the Oakland Bay Bridge will be a cable stay then why not this one?

 #243792  by Frogger
 
what does service to Jersey City have to do with the West Trenton line?
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