Slateford Junction is about a mile north of Portland and anyone living in that area has a Portland mailing address. There may have been a town of Slateford at one time, but the area is Upper Mount Bethel Township today.
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That’s a token offering that really serves nobody and nothing. It’s a quarter of the actual Cutoff, but a mere 8.3 percent of the route to Scranton from Port Morris.
“Token offering?” How about “what New Jersey DOT can afford to do without federal help.” If they wait for the Fed’s to come up with the money, there’s no telling when the severed rail line will be rejoined. This way, an affordable step is being taken in the right direction.
I think there is more a “P.R.” angle to the Andover extension than anything right now. The whole project has been slowed down by awaiting the evnormental study ok which has meant a withholidng of monies from the Feds which has made proponents antsy and opponents more anti! It shows those against this project that NJT is committed to making it happen, they believe it is needed to help North Jersey. It could be (mis)read as a “token” offering in some respects, but, they’ve ordered the locomotives, they know PA is honest and dedicated to the project, as so are the Congressional delegations from both states. So, if they have the money at hand, if they have the manpower at hand, if they have the materials at hand, why not? And since it is into Byram Twp. where there has been opposition to the project and opposition to doing anything to make US Route 206 more capable of handling more traffic (to feed into the already over croweded I80), a train from the (new) Andover station might help win over some of the NIMBY’s.
No, Slateford is definitely still there and distinct from Portland. If you want to argue postal names, then homes on Slateford Road are listed with Mount Bethel addresses, mostly, but never, ever Portland.
How about, no. If NJT finds it “affordable” to buy extravagances like 326 multilevel cars, 27 ALP46As (with no new electrification to run them on, and designed for 125 mph while NJT’s cars are certified for no faster than 100 mph) and 26 “dual-powered” locomotives at a whopping $12.5 million per unit, never mind light rail projects whose costs go into the billions (yes, billions)…then for a project whose costs were estimated at $551 million in 2006 dollars (that’s $602 million in 2008 dollars), NJT doesn’t have to wait for federal funding; they could influence the state of PA to put up more money towards the project. Or if they really wanted to proceed, the project could easily be fast-tracked with all the money they could put towards it. No, t
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Not a token step but a PR step to show that the project is real and is continuing; money availble, materials available, go for it. Also, NJT now owns the Cut Off to the east end of the Slateford Bridge. From their west it is owned or leased by the PA authorities.
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No, the Environmental Impact study has to be officially approved so that money can be released for the next step. That is what is happening THE Tunnel project notwithstanding.
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No locomotives have been purchased exclusevly for the Cut Off. Yes, on paper so far, service in the project is Scranton to Hoboken based on market studies…(designed to get get people form west of the Dewlare to work in northern New Jersey as much as into NYC, in fact a major number of passengers are believed not to be going all the way to NY Penn; if so, change trains at Dover, Summit, or Newark). That being said, NJT has ordered dual powerd locomotives with Andover service having been mentioned as a possible service, but so ha
Well, I guess I’ll have to tell my friends that live along the river just south of that bridge that they need to change their address because you obviously know more than the US Post Office.
Your mailing address is determined by which post office delivers your mail, not by your geographic location.
I know some people who live in PA but have a NY mailing address.
Light rail did win over the NIMBY’s in the Denver and Salt Lake City areas. That is a fact.
Well, since the original “argument” has to do whether or not Slateford “still exists” (and it does), then that’s really not relevant. (Look up “Warnertown, PA” for a town that truly does not exist anymore in a physical sense, save on maps; Slateford has people living there, no matter what you have to put as your mailing address; and technically, you can put a zip code on the envelope instead of any town name.)
You haven’t proven that it’s not a token step by saying this. Doing this does not show commitment whatsoever. To say that it does is to also imply that NJT is going to continue with projects such as the Newark-Elizabeth Rail Link all because they built MOS-1 (connecting Newark Penn with Newark Broad/former DL&W), but the bare fact is that they do not intend to proceed with that project, despite the fact that they had already apportioned funds for the extension to EWR (they already deemed the project “complete” long before Warrington had to quit due to health reasons).
False. NJ can put funds towards the Cutoff at any time, just like they have done with THE Tunnel. The EIS is necessary for federal fu
One could look at that as NIMYism, for example if they had placed the Rt 73-Pennsauken station closer to people’s houses those people could complain about outsiders driving down their 25 mile per hour speed limit local street to get to the parking lot. But by the same token Moorestown and Cinnaminson drivers, who now get off of 50mph Rt 73 and only have about half a mile to go on 40mph River Road, with no traffic lights, to get to the current station, could have complained about being forced to drive those 25 mph streets to get to whatever other location you’re thinking would have been more appropriate. I don’t see any earthshakingly better spots for a station on the railroad right of way.
As for the station at the other end of Pennsauken, 36th ST, that’s right at the spot where Conrail’s Pavonia yard ends, so any further south into Camden would make it difficult for residents on the west side to get access across Pavonia yard. It’s also where River Rd crosses the right of way, so that helps access.
North of 36th St there are no residences at all on the river, west, side of the tracks except for the 4 blocks by 2 blocks between the Delaire Railroad and Betsy Ross highway bridges, and looks like only 4 or 5 medium sized industries. I think more bus service on River Rd feeding Palmyra, Rt 73-Pennsauken, 36th St and points beyond (existing bus route 419) would do a better job than adding another train station, NIMBY’s or no NIMBY’s.
Question for you who are familiar with the situation:
Assuming that it gets done at all, what are the most optimistic schedule projections for getting this transit line running from Scranton into the metropolitan New York City area?
When visiting Scranton in 1997, (along with getting a ride behind steam) I heard plenty of talk about this issue even back then.
Are we looking at another ten years or so? Just wondering what the speculation is. Thanks in advance for any insights.
2010, late 2010, most optimistic shot now…NJT has started to build 7 miles from Port Morris to Andover, NJ; rest is awaiting (imminent) release of monies following accceptance of envorionmental study. Then rest of Cut Off and all of PA can start engineering.
Got proof that it’s imminent?
And release of money from whom? If the state of NJ doesn’t put up money, then the federal government will not.
There are at least three funding sources involved: NJT, Federal Govt. and Commonwealth of PA. The Federal government’s money is what is being held as part of the acceptence of the environmental impact study process. NJT, to its credit, has decided to build the 7 mile segment from Port Morris to Andover. It is a needed immediate service in that area plus it is part of the total long range Scranton servcie project.
It has been difficult for me to understand and accept the political and bureacratic process. Elsewhere I am dealing with a legal issue which is just as convoluted and drawn out. I have learned, or at least resigned myself, that neither the legal issue nor the Scranton rail project, can be speeded up just because I want it to, that our political and legal system are what they are and there is noting I can do but sit back and wait. It has taken a long time for me to accept that, but I have. And it is even more difficult to try to convince others to.