"Next stop Secaucus - Watch the closing doors"

Now that Governor Christie has sunk the ARC rail tunnel, plans are being floated by the Bloomberg administration to turn New Jersey commuters into straphangers by bringing New York's Number 7 subway line under the Hudson.



The line, which runs from Flushing, Queens to Times Square, is already undergoing an extension project which will bring the tracks right up to the Hudson River waterfront at 11th Avenue and 34th Street.

The main advantage this plan has over the ARC tunnel is the cost to New Jersey taxpayers. The overall price tag is estimated to be less than half the amount of the NJ Transit ARC tunnel, plus, other jurisdictions - New York City, Port Authority - would be expected to chip in this time.

The disadvantage is that the ARC tunnel promised a "one seat ride" into the city for many commuters, whereas the new plan would have commuters switch to the 7 train at Secaucus.

The proposal appears to be sound. In fact, it really is not very different than the PATH trains that already run under the Hudson in two separate tunnels - and require jumping on and off at Newark or Hoboken.

Hillsborough Township commuters know that potential reactivation of NJ Transit's West Trenton Line is wholly dependent on increasing Hudson River tunnel capacity. This proposal does the trick, and would potentially allow West Trenton Line trains to deliver passengers to Secaucus for transfer to the subway.

Tracks Are Clear, Destination is Fuzzy

The Federal Transit Administration has released their "record of decision" on the proposed New Jersey-Manhattan rail tunnel project. This will allow the project to receive matching funds from the federal government.

Why do we care about this in Hillsborough? A second rail tunnel into Manhattan is a prerequisite for potential re-activation of passenger train service on the West Trenton Line - from Trenton, through Hopewell, Montgomery, and Hillsborough. The thought has been that before train service and ridership on NJ Transit could be expanded, there will need to be a route for all of those trains to get into Manhattan. A second rail tunnel will conceivably double train service into the city.

While I agree that a second rail tunnel is needed, and has been for a long time, I am confused about the notion that ALL of New Jersey needs desperately to get to Manhattan. Why is that?

Governor Corzine, in his State of the State address earlier this month, was quite vocal in his support of the project - a project where half of the $10 billion price will be paid for by our state.

I don't think that it has to be a given that so much of our workforce has to travel to Manhattan, that so much of our commerce has to take place in Manhattan.

Imagine if $5 billion were to be spent to once again make Newark a place where people would want to work and conduct business. That's the kind of thing that our governor should be championing - instead of pushing for the conduit that ensures Manhattan's continued dominance.

Right Project, Wrong Reason

The Federal Transit Administration has just approved the environmental impact statement for the Hudson River rail tunnel project. This comes amid recent statements by the Port Authority and Governor Jon Corzine touting the benefits of these two additional single track railroad tunnels that would link New Jersey and New York City, and would indicate the project is now on the fast track.

I feel the project is worthwhile. Going from two track to four will actually more than double rail capacity because it will make routing of trains more efficient and provide for detours around stalled trains and maintenance sites - something that is a real problen with only two tracks in service now. It will also make possible re-activation of passenger service on the West Trenton Line through Hillsborough, as well as other lines, and may include the possibility of "one-seat" service on the Raritan Valley Line, with no change at Newark.

But neither Port Authority Chairman Anthony Coscia nor Jon Corzine cited any of these benefits in their recent remarks. Each is now praising the project because of the economic stimulus the construction will provide to our region.

In my opinion, this is the wrong reason to go forward with the tunnels. I agree that an injection of federal and state money into regional projects can help the economy - but this is a TEN YEAR PROJECT, costing $8.7 BILLION that will mostly benefit unions and cronies. Many economists feel the recession will last another 18 months, not 10 years, and by the time we are out of the recession we will already have committed to this project - whose costs keep escalating each year.

If helping the regional economy is the new goal, perhaps spending $1 billion right now on short term projects that will employ people immediately would be a better use of our taxpayer money and highway tolls.

We can always take another look at the tunnels in a year or two - the Hudson River isn't going anywhere!

Flemington Wants Trains

Like many Central New Jersey communities, Flemington is seeking restoration of passenger rail service. Hillsborough is already on board with plans for the reactivation of the CSX West Trenton Line - a project that is at least 10 to 20 years in our future - but Flemington's plan should also be intriguing for Hillsborough residents and officials, because 7 miles of the 18 mile line between Flemington and Bound Brook would run through our town. There would be more track in Hillsborough than in any other community along the line!

Flemington last saw passenger service along this corridor on April 25, 1953 when Jersey Central's No. 1555, nicknamed "Old Friendly" made its final run on the South Branch Railroad between Flemington and Somerville. The photo below is from the station stop at Neshanic Station that day.



The section of those tracks between Three Bridges and Somerville was torn up years ago, and the proposed route wouldn't use that exact alignment, but would use the existing Norfolk Southern Lehigh Valley Line which closely parallels the old Jersey Central route.

This line also had passenger service a century ago, with stops in Hillsborough at Flagtown and at Royce Valley, where the railroad crosses the present day Route 206.

What do you think? Should Hillsborough endorse restoration of passenger service along this corridor? How about turning Flagtown into a "transit village", or building a commuter rail station at Docherty Park?

If the West Trenton Line is expected to take another 10 to 20 years, this plan will take about 20 to 30. Still, it will never happen if we don't plan for it now!

My Three Cents

The US Treasury is broke - or will be soon.

Clyde Haberman's interesting column yesterday detailed how the US Mint is losing over $100 million a year making pennies and nickels. How can this be? We can't make money by making money?!?!

Apparently it costs 1.67 cents to make a penny, and 9.5 cents to make a nickel. And we can't make it up in volume. In fact, increased demand for pennies and nickels only puts us deeper in the hole.

There are some who are proposing to make this 100th year of the Lincoln penny its last - or maybe give Lincoln one more farewell tour in 2009.

I have another idea. If reducing demand for the coins will save us some money, maybe there is a way for Hillsborough to get something out of this. The elected officials of Somerset and Mercer Counties should partner with all of our local banks to request that no more pennies and nickels be sent to their local branches. We could make up the change shortfall out of our own pockets and piggybanks by exchanging loose coins for dollars at the banks, insuring the banks have enough of the un-precious metals on hand to do business.

Then we ask for the savings to be used to restart the West Trenton Rail Line!

What do you think?

I Forgot to Mention...

...my other idea for a Hillsborough train station on the West Trenton Line. In a previous blog entry I wrote that the train station location should be reconsidered. I would favor a station south of Hillsborough Road, possibly in the vicinity of Mountain View Road. This would provide access to both the southern terminus of the proposed Route 206 bypass, the "old" Route 206, and the Belle Mead GSA property.

What I forgot to mention was my idea for the Pike Run "right of way". The Pike Run development in Montgomery Township is bisected by a swath of land that was reserved for the previous Route 206 bypass plan. That plan would have had 206 running right through the middle of the development. I would suggest a road being built on that right of way - a street that would intersect Pike Run Road and Township Line Road, and would lead to the parking lot of my "Hillsborough/Belle Mead" station.

What do you think?

The Big Puzzle

In reading all of the recent articles on the possible reactivation of the West Trenton rail line, it occurred to me that passenger train service for Hillsborough is really part of a bigger puzzle - one that includes not just the train station and transit village, but also the creation of Hillsborough's "town center", the redevelopment of the Belle Mead GSA Depot, and the Route 206 bypass.

While the town center plan has been around in its present form for several years now, the purchase of the old GSA depot is recent, and the Route 206 bypass plan has changed several times over the years - the newest plan being unveiled this past summer.

With these changes in mind, it makes sense to me to also re-examine the future location of the Hillsborough train station. The planned placement of the station at Amwell Road may no longer make sense.

It has been pointed out that the Amwell Road station would be less than three miles from the proposed Belle Mead station in Montgomery. While it is possible for two stations to be this close, or even closer - Somerville and Raritan, for instance - those stations serve existing town centers. There is nothing like that along the line from Amwell Road to Township Line Road.

I would like to see a proposal for a combined Hillsborough/Belle Mead station south of Hillsborough road, with direct access from the 206 bypass to the parking lot. A location that would serve the needs of Hillsborough and Montgomery residents, and also be near the GSA depot. In this proposal, Montgomery does not get a train station within their borders. Too bad. They could live with it - the same way Hillsborough had to accept the revised 206 bypass that took the highway away from Pike Run.

Make Me an Offer

Ten days ago, I wrote about some of the reasons the reactivation of the West Trenton rail line doesn't make sense. Chief among these is the cost. It's hard to get around the idea that this 27 mile railroad will cost $220,000,000 - and will benefit only a few hundred commuters, and a handful of weekend day-trippers. Is it really worth it?

Today's Courier News is full of articles touting the benefits of bring passenger train service back to Hillsborough, Montgomery, and the Hopewells - and I agree with most of those also. So, lest you think I'm all negativity on this, here are some reasons to get the trains a-rollin'.

First of all, building this kind of project always seems to make sense in the long run. Twenty years from now, people will likely say "they should have built this ten years earlier"! And they would probably be right. The cost of building only goes up, and patrons nearly always materialize to fill up the infrastructure. You never hear about highway authorities removing lanes!

People want to live in towns that have rail service. It's no good if the station is in the next town, four or five miles away - it needs to be here. And this is true even for people that have no plans to ever ride the rails. Residents feel that having a train station in town adds to the value of their properties - and they are correct! The added value of the station gets built into the selling price of your home, even if the home is never sold to a commuter!

A Hillsborough train station and "transit village" opens the door for new business opportunities. In a town that has been trying to attract commercial and industrial development for 50 years, and has not had a lot of success, the promise of economic prosperity through redevelopment sounds promising, and should be tried.

Finally, we know that Hillsborough residents pay more than their share of state income tax, but do not receive much back - in state aid to schools, for instance. So, despite that whopping $220 million price tag, this is a chance to get some of Hillsborough's money back in Hillsborough. And that's an offer I can't refuse.

All Aboard?

The Hillsborough Township Committee is set to pass a resolution endorsing the re-activation of passenger rail service on the CSX West Trenton Line. This is supposed to be a first step in the town's effort to lobby New Jersey Transit. In reality, the towns involved have been in favor of this plan for a long time - it wouldn't have gotten this far if they had been opposed.

That's one way of looking at it. A cynic might say that NJ Transit is going to do what they want, whether the towns are with them or against them. A cynic might think that today's meeting at the municipal complex was more about "promotion" than "feedback". Was it? I was unable to attend - so you tell me.

The most interesting statistic from NJ Transit's study of the project comes from the "ridership forecast". They estimate that there will be 2,660 riders each day on the new service. That sounds pretty good - until you realize that 1,420 of those riders will be commuters that have moved over from other rail lines. There will be only 1,240 NEW riders per day on this $220 million railroad! Did I mention that those are 2007 dollars - and that the line would also need $12 million a year in operating subsidies from the state (that means you and me).

And don't forget - NJ Transit actually uses the term "trips", not "riders". When we realize that nearly ALL of the trips will be "round trips", then we conclude that just 620 PEOPLE will be ditching their cars to ride the rails each day - 620 people from all of the towns along the route - Ewing, Hopewell Township, Hopewell Boro, Montgomery, Hillsborough, as well as the other neighboring towns.

Despite that, I'm for it. If they just change one thing...

Location, Location, Location

Are you ready for rail service to return to Hillsborough? The project to restore service to the West Trenton Line is on track(!), and trains could be chugging into Hillsborough Station within 10 years - certainly within 20.

It's not too early to begin thinking about what having a New Jersey Transit train station in Hillsborough will do to our community. NJ Transit is looking for public comments on the project, and will be holding a meeting at the municipal complex on November 29 from 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM.

Along with the station comes the idea of a "transit village" - a commercial and residential development around the station, designed, in essence, for rail commuters. This is an idea that the state is pushing - and it seems inevitable. This is one of the reasons that the eventual location of the station should be paramount.

I am not convinced that the placement of a Hillsborough train station near Amwell Road and Clerico Lane is in the best interests of the town. Isn't there a better spot for "the village"?

I'll have more thoughts on this in a couple of days. Think it over and let me have your ideas in the comments section of the blog. Choo Choo!