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"West Shore Line: Good News" (Nineteen Eighty-One)

Posted by Olog-hai on Wed Jul 23 12:22:08 2014

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West Shore Line: Good News

By Gene Rodinaro
Published: November 15, 1981

Dumont: Almost since the last northbound passenger train left this Bergen County town 22 years ago, commuters, public officials and railroad enthusiasts here and in other populous communities along the West Shore Railroad have sought a resumption of passenger service.

Several weeks ago, they got their first encouraging news in years. The Metropolitan Transit Authority, the New York agency responsible for most rail and bus service in that state's New York suburban area, adopted a resolution calling for resumption of the railroad's commuter service.

The line, which runs through the eastern sections of Orange and Rockland Counties in New York, as well as through Bergen and Hudson Counties, has carried only freight since 1959.

''We have had almost unanimous support from residents up and down the line for the reinstitution of commuter rail service,'' said John McAlevey, chairman of the Conrail Committee of the M.T.A.

''Frankly, in light of that support and the obvious cost-savings benefits that could be derived from the project, it would be a shame if New York and New Jersey couldn't at least get to together to discuss the beginning of limited service on an experimental basis.''

According to Mr. McAlevey, the good condition of the roadbed could permit a limited number of rush-hour commuter trains to use the line between West Haverstraw, N.Y. and Hoboken almost immediately, pending an agreement with New Jersey and Conrail, which currently runs freight traffic on the line.

M.T.A. officials say that commuter service, once resumed, could attract about 10,000 Bergen and Rockland County riders. The major stumbling block, according to proponents of the plan, is the reluctance of the New Jersey Department of Transportation and NJ Transit, the state corporation that runs rail and bus lines, to do more than study the proposal.

''They have been studying and studying this proposal for years, but we never seem to get past Step One,'' said Coleman Christie, executive director of the Mayors Committee for Rail Commuting. This nine-member group, comprising Bergen County mayors whose municipalities lie along the route of the West Shore, was established in 1970 to seek renewed passenger service.

''So far,'' Mr. Christie said, ''New Jersey has offered no solutions to the problem other than to suggest the establishment of a busway, which no one wants and would cause major pollution and police problems for the area.''

State transportation officials contend that the return of passenger service at a time of Federal cutbacks in mass-transit aid would be costly and put the railroad in direct competition with state-owned and operated bus carriers, which serve most New Yorkbound commuters in the area.

''Right now, I would have to say that we are lukewarm toward the proposal,'' Jeff Zupan, a member of the developmental planning staff at NJ Transit, said in a telephone interview. ''Our first priority is to keep moving what we already have running.

''As far as the future is concerned,'' Mr. Zupan continued, ''there are several other rail projects in the state that are in greater need of capital funding and must be considered on an equal basis with any proposal to re-institute passenger service on the West Shore.''

At the core of state resistance to the proposal is its takeover of Transport of New Jersey and several other deficit-ridden bus companies last year. The state contends that bus routes in northeastern Bergen County and parts of Hudson County would be adversly affected.

Despite continued local opposition, state transportation officials still support an express busway on the railway roadbed to provide a direct express route for New York City-bound commuters.

At public hearings last year and early this year in Bergen, Rockland and Orange Counties, commuters and public officials voiced strong support for the resumption of commuter rail service.

Partly on the basis of this support and the conclusions of a report by transportation departments in Orange, Rockland and Bergen Counties, M.T.A. officials voted to endorse the rail proposal.

Although the M.T.A. now provides no financing for the project, Mr. McAlevey said that money for limited experimental commuter service could be raised almost as soon as an agreement could be reached with New Jersey.

The tri-county report proposes the resumption of service on a one-year trial basis, beginning with four rush-hour trains, in each direction, between West Haverstraw and Hoboken. At Hoboken, commuters could switch to PATH trains to downtown or midtown Manhattan.

The plan also calls for a station to be built under the Route 3 viaduct at Weehawken, where commuters could transfer to buses going through the Lincoln Tunnel en route to the Port Authority terminal.

According to the study, there would be no immediate need to rehabilitate trackage. M.T.A. officials say the only physical improvement needed would be replacing a small rail spur of several hundred feet from the southern terminus of the line to the Hoboken station. The spur was removed earlier this year.

M.T.A. officials predict no problems in contracting for rail rights with Conrail or in supplying adequate rolling stock. Spare equipment is reported to be available in both states.

Lack of available parking in several Bergen County municipalities has been mentioned in state officials' criticism of the project. Even so, public officials in these communities say they can cope with the problem and note that many commuters are within walking distance of centrally situated stations.

M.T.A. officials also cite the cost-saving features of the project. ''There is no question that you can move more people faster and at lesser cost by rail than by bus when one train of six cars can accommodate as many people as 14 fully loaded buses,'' Mr. McAlevey said. ''That is to say nothing of pollution and road-congestion problems caused by buses picking up and unloading passengers on congested local roads.''

Because of the high population density of the area and the lack of a major north-south highway, commuter buses often have to pick up and discharge passengers on heavily traveled roads. According to supporters of rail service, this results in delays in getting to and from Manhattan during rush hours.

''Right now, it takes longer for a commuter taking a bus from Dumont to midtown Manhattan than a commuter taking a train from New Brunswick, almost three times the distance away,'' Mr. Christie said. ''This is unconscionable when we live so close.''

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