NJ Transit New Jersey Transit Corporation, branded as NJ Transit, and often shortened to NJT, is a state-owned public transportation system that serves the U.S. state of New Jersey, along with portions of New York State and Pennsylvania. It operates bu ...

New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway The New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway (or New York, Susquehanna and Western Railroad and also known as the Susie-Q or the Susquehanna) is a Class II American freight railway operating over 400 miles (645 km) of track in th ...

Passaic Passaic ( or ) is a city in Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city had a total population of 70,537, ranking as the 16th largest municipality in New Jersey and an increase of 656 from the 69,7 ...

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...

Hudson Hudson may refer to: People * Hudson (given name) * Hudson (surname) * Henry Hudson, English explorer * Hudson (footballer, born 1986), Hudson Fernando Tobias de Carvalho, Brazilian football right-back * Hudson (footballer, born 1988), Hudso ...

FRA A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the ol ...

diesel multiple unit A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple-unit train powered by on-board diesel engines. A DMU requires no separate locomotive, as the engines are incorporated into one or more of the carriages. Diesel-powered single-unit railcars are also ...

Hawthorne Hawthorne often refers to the American writer Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hawthorne may also refer to: Places Australia *Hawthorne, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane Canada * Hawthorne Village, Ontario, a suburb of Milton, Ontario United States * Hawt ...

North Bergen North Bergen is a township in the northern part of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the township had a total population of 63,361. The township was founded in 1843. It was much diminished in territory by a ...

ROW Row or ROW may refer to: Exercise *Rowing, or a form of aquatic movement using oars *Row (weight-lifting), a form of weight-lifting exercise Math *Row vector, a 1 × ''n'' matrix in linear algebra. *Row (database), a single, implicitly structured ...

New Jersey Midland Railway The New Jersey Midland Railway was a 19th-century predecessor to the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway (NYS&W) that operated in Northern New Jersey and Orange County, New York. Formation and construction The New Jersey Midland Railway ...

Pavonia Terminal Pavonia Terminal was the Erie Railroad terminal on the Hudson River situated on the landfilled Harsimus Cove in Jersey City, New Jersey. The station opened in 1861 and closed in 1958 when the Erie Railroad moved its passenger services to nearby ...

Jersey City Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.Susquehanna Transfer in

North Bergen North Bergen is a township in the northern part of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the township had a total population of 63,361. The township was founded in 1843. It was much diminished in territory by a ...

, which had opened on August 1, 1939 to allow transfer to buses through the

Lincoln Tunnel The Lincoln Tunnel is an approximately tunnel under the Hudson River, connecting Weehawken, New Jersey, to the west with Midtown Manhattan in New York City to the east. It carries New Jersey Route 495 on the New Jersey side and unsigned New Y ...

. NYSW freight operations terminate at the Landbridge Terminal south of the

North Bergen Yard The North Bergen Yard is freight rail yard and intermodal terminal in North Bergen, New Jersey parallel to Tonnelle Avenue between 49th and 69th Streets. Located within the North Jersey Shared Assets Area, the facility is part of CSX Transportatio ...

near Secaucus Road.

Background

West Shore Region Study

The West Shore Region Study was initiated in 1996 by NJ Transit and other stakeholders to examine multiple modal opportunities in the region that had once been served by the

West Shore Railroad The West Shore Railroad was the final name of a railroad that ran from Weehawken, New Jersey, on the west bank of the Hudson River opposite New York City, north to Albany, New York, and then west to Buffalo. It was organized as a competitor ...

and the other railroads in

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...

,

Hudson Hudson may refer to: People * Hudson (given name) * Hudson (surname) * Henry Hudson, English explorer * Hudson (footballer, born 1986), Hudson Fernando Tobias de Carvalho, Brazilian football right-back * Hudson (footballer, born 1988), Hudso ...

and

Passaic Passaic ( or ) is a city in Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city had a total population of 70,537, ranking as the 16th largest municipality in New Jersey and an increase of 656 from the 69,7 ...

counties. An alternatives analysis report published December 1999 identified three projects: the Northern Branch corridor (LRT), the Cross County corridor (LRT), and the West Shore corridor (commuter rail), the last of which did not advance. The Vince Lombardi Park & Ride was seen as a potential

interchange station An interchange station or a transfer station is a train station for more than one railway route in a public transport system that allows passengers to change from one route to another, often without having to leave a station or pay an additional ...

for the HBLR, the Cross County, and West Shore.

Cross-County LRT

The ''Cross-County LRT'' was originally conceived as an extension of the HBLR with service running in Bergen County from Maywood to

Hoboken Terminal Hoboken Terminal is a commuter-oriented intermodal passenger station in Hoboken, Hudson County, New Jersey. One of the New York metropolitan area's major transportation hubs, it is served by nine NJ Transit (NJT) commuter rail lines, one Metr ...

under the assumption that HBLR would terminate at the Vince Lombardi Park & Ride, as had originally been planned. (A western terminus at Saddle Brook/

Interstate 80 Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from downtown San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one o ...

was also discussed, as was running the line through the Edgewater Tunnel to the

Hudson Waterfront The Hudson Waterfront is an urban area of northeastern New Jersey along the lower reaches of the Hudson River, the Upper New York Bay and the Kill van Kull. Though the term can specifically mean the shoreline, it is often used to mean the contigu ...

.) By 2001 the concept had evolved to extend the line to Paterson and eventually the Hawthorne station in Passaic County. A Investment Study/Draft Environmental Impact Statement was announced for the ''Bergen-Passaic Cross County Corridor'' and by 2002, the project was referred to as the ''Bergen-Passaic Rail Line''. Also by 2002, cost, construction and operating complications of running the line through the

North Bergen Yard The North Bergen Yard is freight rail yard and intermodal terminal in North Bergen, New Jersey parallel to Tonnelle Avenue between 49th and 69th Streets. Located within the North Jersey Shared Assets Area, the facility is part of CSX Transportatio ...

led to a decision for the HBLR terminus being located east of that yard at the

Tonnelle Avenue station Tonnelle Avenue is a ground-level station on the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail (HBLR) located at 51st Street in North Bergen, New Jersey. The station opened for service on February 25, 2006. Service from the station travels to West Side Avenue in ...

in North Bergen and was decided to extend the HBLR along the

Northern Branch The Northern Branch is a railroad line that runs from Jersey City to Northvale in northeastern New Jersey. The line was constructed in 1859 by the Northern Railroad of New Jersey to connect the New York and Erie Railroad's Piermont Branch ter ...

.

Passaic–Bergen Rail

By 2003, and the project was referred to as the ''Passaic-Bergen Rail Line''. With clarity about the terminus of the HBLT terminus and the availability of FRA-compliant vehicles the project was re-conceived as running from Hawthorne to an eastern terminus in Hackensack along the NYSW corridor using the new equipment. In 2004, NJ Transit proposed the Tri-County Rail Concept Plan, a passenger rail initiative designed to combine existing rail infrastructure, the majority of which is the reuse of freight lines, with new construction to create an inter-connected network of rail lines serving Hudson, Bergen, and Passaic counties. By 2006, NJ Transit, the ''Passaic-Bergen Rail'' project sponsor, was exploring planning the availability of

Federal Railroad Administration The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is an agency in the United States Department of Transportation (DOT). The agency was created by the Department of Transportation Act of 1966. The purpose of the FRA is to promulgate and enforce rail saf ...

-compliant diesel multiple unit rail cars and changes in the alignment. In 2007, NJ Transit stated construction of the ''Passaic-Bergen Passenger Service Restoration Project'' could begin in early 2009 and last approximately 3 years; estimated the cost to be $156 million. In a memorandum of understanding NJT agreed to pay NYSW more than $20 million for a 75-year easement for

trackage rights Railway companies can interact with and control others in many ways. These relationships can be complicated by bankruptcies. Operating Often, when a railroad first opens, it is only a short spur of a main line. The owner of the spur line may con ...

on its freight line. The scope of the project ran from Hawthorne to Hackensack. It engaged

SYSTRA SYSTRA is a multinational engineering and consulting group in the mobility sector, whose fields of activity include rail and public transport. In 2019, it employed a staff of about 7,300 people, and is a limited company which shareholders includ ...

for planning and design. The line would run for approximate 8.3 miles in a generally east-west alignment, creating a cross-county corridor running between Hawthorne, where transfer to the

Main Line Mainline, ''Main line'', or ''Main Line'' may refer to: Transportation Railway * Main line (railway), the principal artery of a railway system * Main line railway preservation, the practice of operating preserved trains on an operational railw ...

would be available, and Hackensack. There would be five stations in Paterson, one station in Elmwood Park. It would pass through Saddle Brook, Rochelle Park and Maywood, without stops. Two stations were planned for Hackensack, including a terminus at State Street. A new track would be laid for the line along the ROW, the existing track reserved for freight. The river crossing at Hawthorne would remain single track and shared. While outside of the scope of the project, in 2013 the city of Hackensack replaced a rail trestle at River Street close to the proposed terminus with a contingency for a future additional track and passenger platform.

Potential stations (2019)

*

Hawthorne Hawthorne often refers to the American writer Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hawthorne may also refer to: Places Australia *Hawthorne, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane Canada * Hawthorne Village, Ontario, a suburb of Milton, Ontario United States * Hawt ...

('' Main Line Transfer)'' * 6th Avenue – ''Paterson'' *

Lafayette Street Lafayette Street is a major north-south street in New York City's Lower Manhattan. It originates at the intersection of Reade Street and Centre Street, one block north of Chambers Street. The one-way street then successively runs through Chi ...

*

Madison Avenue Madison Avenue is a north-south avenue in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, United States, that carries northbound one-way traffic. It runs from Madison Square (at 23rd Street) to meet the southbound Harlem River Drive at 142nd Stre ...

* 20th Avenue * Vreeland Avenue * Boulevard – ''Elmwood Park'' *

Bergen County Line The Bergen County Line is a commuter rail line and service owned and operated by New Jersey Transit in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The line loops off the Main Line between the Meadowlands and Glen Rock, with trains continuing in either direc ...

Transfer *Rochelle Avenue * Maywood Avenue * American Legion Drive – ''

Hackensack University Medical Center Hackensack University Medical Center (HUMC) is a 781-bed non-profit, research and teaching hospital providing tertiary and healthcare needs located seven miles (11 km) west of New York City, in Hackensack, Bergen County, New Jersey. As of 2 ...

'' *

Pascack Valley Line The Pascack Valley Line is a commuter rail line operated by the Hoboken Division of New Jersey Transit, in the United States. The line runs north from Hoboken Terminal, through Hudson County and Bergen County in New Jersey, and into Rockland Co ...

Transfer *State Street – ''Hackensack'' or Downtown-River Street

Passaic–Bergen–Hudson Transit

In October 2015, U.S. Congressman Bill Pascrell joined state legislators in creating a coalition to revive the project, and in January 2016, the local governments of the involved municipalities passed concurrent resolutions to restart the project. In August 2017 NJT released an RFP to examine current conditions on the line and needs of communities it would serve. and expanded the project to include the connection to the HBLR. The Passaic–Bergen–Hudson Transit Project is the proposed connection of the NYSW right-of-way with the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail. It adds stations not included in the 2007 environmental impact statement (as well as transfers where are no NJ Transit railroad stations) and potentially shifts a Hackensack stop to River Street about two blocks from the

Hackensack Bus Terminal Hackensack Bus Terminal, also called the Hackensack Bus Transfer, is a regional bus station in downtown Hackensack, New Jersey, owned and operated by New Jersey Transit. The bus station was built in the 1970s and was extensively renovated in 2007 ...

. The route from Hackensack would bridge the Hackensack River to Bogota and Ridgefield Park, and then cross

Overpeck Creek Overpeck Creek is a tributary of the Hackensack River, approximately long, in Bergen County in northeastern New Jersey in the United States. The lower broad mouth of the creek is part of the extended tidal estuary of the lower Hackensack and of t ...

to Vince Lombardi Park & Ride at the

New Jersey Turnpike The New Jersey Turnpike (NJTP) is a system of controlled-access highways in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The turnpike is maintained by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA).The Garden State Parkway, although maintained by NJTA, is not consi ...

in Rigdefield. It would then continue to

North Bergen North Bergen is a township in the northern part of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the township had a total population of 63,361. The township was founded in 1843. It was much diminished in territory by a ...

, where the line would terminate at

Tonnelle Avenue station Tonnelle Avenue is a ground-level station on the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail (HBLR) located at 51st Street in North Bergen, New Jersey. The station opened for service on February 25, 2006. Service from the station travels to West Side Avenue in ...

. The use of the Edgewater Branch (from a junction in

Little Ferry Yard Little Ferry Yard is a railyard and Intermodal freight transport, intermodal terminal in the Port of New York and New Jersey served by the River Subdivision (CSX Transportation), CSX River Subdivision (CSXT), New York, Susquehanna and Western Railw ...

) to connect to the HBLR

Northern Branch Corridor Project The Northern Branch Corridor Project is a proposed extension of the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail (HBLR) from its northern terminus into eastern Bergen County, New Jersey, initially proposed in 2001. If built, the new service would use the right-of-w ...

just north of the 91st Street station, including a station stop there, is being considered. As of 2015, the two-track NYS&W bridge 10.73 over Overpeck Creek was slated for reconstruction, but funding was unavailable. Before it could be replaced, it collapsed in 2018. The bridge was essentially replaced in 2020, largely paid for by the state. The Passaic–Bergen–Hudson Transit Project was not included in NJ Transit's 2020 ten-year capital plan.

Potential stations (2019)

* West Fort Lee Road – ''Bogota'' *Central Avenue – Bogota * Mount Vernon Street – ''Ridgefield Park'' * Vince Lombardi Park & Ride (''Ridgefield'') * 91st Street (Edgewater Branch alternative) * 69th Street – ''North Bergen'' *

Tonnelle Avenue U.S. Route 1/9 (US 1/9) is the long concurrency of US 1 and US 9 from their junction in Woodbridge Township in Middlesex County, New Jersey, north to New York City. The route is a multilane road with some freeway portions that runs through ...

References

External links

* http://fhiplansurvey.com/Passaic-Bergen/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Passaic-Bergen Rail Line Passenger rail transportation in New Jersey NJ Transit Rail Operations Transportation in Passaic County, New Jersey Transportation in Bergen County, New Jersey Transportation in Hudson County, New Jersey Proposed railway lines in New Jersey

NJ Midland and NYS&W

Background

West Shore Region Study

Cross-County LRT

Passaic–Bergen Rail

Potential stations (2019)

Passaic–Bergen–Hudson Transit

Potential stations (2019)

See also

References

External links