WoH Port Jervis Line Service, Studies, Work, Status

West-of-Hudson commuters gave Metro-North Railroad a 77 percent satisfaction rate in 2003.
In releasing the results of its mid-October customer satisfaction survey, the railroad said the percentage included 14 percent who were very satisfied and 63 percent who were satisfied.
By line, 86 percent of Pascack Valley riders said they were satisfied compared with 74 percent of Port Jervis riders. Similarly, 38 percent of Pascack Valley riders said service had improved in 2003 compared with 19 percent of Port Jervis riders.
In contrast, riders on Metro-North's three east-of-Hudson lines reported a 93 percent satisfaction rate.

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The Port Jervis line could certainly use higher speeds. That's a long way to commute every day! I don't know how people manage to commute from as far as Port Jervis into the city every day.

North of Suffern, there are few if any grade crossings. Stations are spaced fairly far apart. It seems like a logical place to upgrade the signaling and increase top speed from the current 79 mph to 90 or 100.

firsts its still stick rail not welded, a project mncr is tackeling very soon.
best speed will be 79 , since the line is not equipped with atc/cabs. and not likely to get it anytime soon becaue of freight still using that line.

Rockland train riders in Suffern and Sloatsburg will have two options added to their schedules starting tomorrow, though they'll have to be early risers to catch the one headed into Manhattan.

Metro-North Railroad, which contracts with NJ Transit to take care of its Rockland and Orange County riders, is adding a train that leaves Sloatsburg at 5:22 a.m and Suffern at 5:29 a.m., primarily due to market research. That, and a new train coming home at night, will be part of schedule changes.

The morning run originates in Port Jervis at 4:02 a.m. and arrives in Hoboken at 6:11 a.m., to allow riders to reach Penn Station at 6:20 a.m. It will run without stops from Suffern to Hoboken.

http://www.thejournalnews.com/newsroom/ ... rvice.html

I thought the entire Port Jervis Line was going to get welded rail from Suffern to Port Jervis this summer. Why hasnt this happened?

kind of hard to do entire line in one summer, besides changing the rail all hardware needs to be changed as the stick rail is not same weight as CWR to be put there.
MNCR has been putting 186 Lbs rail everywere lately so all tie plates etc need to be changed because of bigger footprint.

186 pound rail - that's huge! Guilford only wanted 136 lbs for 79 mph Downeaster service!

When you replace rail for future you go with max available, not what is tolerable, either way you need to change plates etc so why not go for latest, putting in 136 Lbs rail now and not being able (imagine) to put in Concrete ties for that rail in 10 years would only double the cost.

Currently Port Jervis West of Hudson service is operated under a NJ Transit/Metro-North partership. NJT operates the trains with NJT crews under contract and MNR provides services (station and ticketing) for service north of Suffern.

But here's a possiblity to turn WOH service into a 100% MNR operation:

A MNR crew station could be built at Port Jervis. All WOH equipment (GP40FH-2s, GP40PH-2, F40PH-2s, Comets II/IIBs, Comet Vs) would be now be based out of Port Jervis. MNR crews (not NJT) would operate the trains to/from Hoboken out of Port Jervis, using NJT trackage rights south of Suffern.

I think you will only see this type of operation is someone actually manages to build a cross hudson rail bridge.

Connect the West Of Hudson lines to part of the old Putnam Branch and bring them into GCT.

From Suffern, run them across the Piermont Branch / Suffern Industrial through Nanuet Jct, and out to Piermont. Where they could take the ferry to Tarrytown. Not much chance of that, though.

Today I took a ride to Port Jervis. I noticed that double track extends to just east of the Sloatsburg station--apparently it ends at a CP called Sterling.
Does anyone know why the double track extends that far? I'd have thought it wouldn't have extended past the Suffern yard.

Years ago, Sterling had three tracks. There was a center siding (!) which served as the interchange for the Sterling Mountain Railroad, a forest and mining line. There was an attended station and operator, as well. The double track continued from Suffern to Newburgh Jct until about the mid-1980s, IIRC, when it was cut back.

EJ Quinby has a short piece in his North Jersey Transit book about a hike from the Sterling station up along the SM Railroad into the hills.

If the Tappan Zee replacement happens, with a railroad bridge and/or tunnel, and a restored Piermont branch, it might happen. But when last seen, the estimates were $9 billion and climbing, and we haven't even gotten to the NIMBY problems. I'd say, maybe my grandchildren will see it. If we get $10 gas, maybe the project will get some momentum.

CP Sterling allows a long freight to sit while the other end is clear of the Hillburn crossovers.