The Glassboro–Camden Line (GCL) is a planned

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 ...

(DMU) light rail system to be located in

South Jersey South Jersey comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of New Jersey located between the lower Delaware River and the Atlantic Ocean. The designation of South Jersey with a distinct toponym is a colloquialism rather than an administrative ...

. At the northern terminus, the Walter Rand Transportation Center in

Camden Camden may refer to: People * Camden (surname), a surname of English origin * Camden Joy (born 1964), American writer * Camden Toy (born 1957), American actor Places Australia * Camden, New South Wales * Camden, Rosehill, a heritage res ...

, it will connect with the River Line with which its infrastructure and vehicles will be compatible, and paid transfers will be possible to the

PATCO Speedline The PATCO Speedline (signed in Philadelphia as the Lindenwold Line and also known colloquially as the PATCO High Speed Line) is a rapid transit route operated by the Port Authority Transit Corporation (PATCO), which runs between Philadelphia, Pe ...

. The route will generally follow the

right of way Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another. A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...

(ROW) of

Conrail Conrail , formally the Consolidated Rail Corporation, was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeastern United States between 1976 and 1999. The trade name Conrail is a portmanteau based on the company's legal name. It continues to do busin ...

's South Jersey/Philadelphia Shared Assets Operations

Vineland Secondary The Vineland Secondary is a rail line owned, operated and maintained by Conrail Shared Assets Operations for the use of CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern Railway. It begins at Pavonia Yard in Camden and heads south, with a spur serving the P ...

freight rail line, which continues beyond the light rail terminus in

Glassboro Glassboro is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Gloucester County, New Jersey, Gloucester County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States census, 2010 U.S. census, the borough's population was 18,579, ...

. The project is part of a greater plan to expand public transportation in the

Delaware Valley The Delaware Valley is a metropolitan region on the East Coast of the United States that comprises and surrounds Philadelphia, the sixth most populous city in the nation and 68th largest city in the world as of 2020. The toponym Delaware Val ...

metro area.

History

In the early 1990s, NJ Transit (NJT) commissioned a major investment study to examine mass transit options for the South Jersey region in Burlington, Camden, and Gloucester. A passenger rail connection from Camden to Glassboro was among the proposals in the report released in 1996. In May 2009, New Jersey Governor

Jon S. Corzine Jon Stevens Corzine ( ; born January 1, 1947) is an American financial executive and retired politician who served as a United States Senator from New Jersey from 2001 to 2006 and the 54th governor of New Jersey from 2006 to 2010. Corzine ran fo ...

and the Delaware River Port Authority announced the project. It was expected to cost $1.8 billion and be completed in 2019. However, due to lack of funds, local opposition, and other setbacks, construction has yet to begin . An environmental impact report was completed and released in February 2021. In October 2022, the project entered the design phase and engineering phase, expected to take three years. The project is anticipated to be completed in 2028.

Funding

In July 2012, NJT received $2.6 million in federal funding to advance the project. In July 2014, the

Federal Transit Administration The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is an agency within the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) that provides financial and technical assistance to local public transportation systems. The FTA is one of ten modal administration ...

said it would not proceed with a required environmental study because no owner or operator had been identified. While the Delaware River Port Authority (DRPA) was overseeing the $8.1 million environmental study, the agency had not agreed to build or run the line. NJT agreed to fund the study, but had also not committed to building or running the line. As New Jersey raised its gas taxes in 2016, the line was targeted to receive funding for construction. Any possible advancement of the project is unlikely to take place until after 2025 according to the vice chairman of DRPA. When the environmental report was released in February 2021, it was announced that the South Jersey Transportation Authority would be contributing $200 million to the project. This funding will cover preliminary engineering and design, project management, and professional services for the pre-construction phase of the light rail line.

Route and stations

The Glassboro–Camden Line is located within Camden County and Gloucester County. Within

, it will follow a newly constructed viaduct south from the Walter Rand Transportation Center to

South Camden South Camden is a neighborhood in Camden, New Jersey. Located in the southern part of the city, below Central Waterfront and east of the Port of Camden on the Delaware River. Interstate 676 runs through the neighborhood. The South Camden His ...

. It would then utilize the Conrail-owned

right-of-way Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another. A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...

(ROW) to Glassboro. , plans call for 14 stations: three in Camden; one each in Gloucester City and Westville; two in

Woodbury Woodbury may refer to: Geography Antarctica *Woodbury Glacier, a glacier on Graham Land, British Antarctic Territory Australia * Woodbury, Tasmania, a locality in Australia England * Woodbury, Bournemouth, an area in Dorset *Woodbury, East Devo ...

, one each in Woodbury Heights,

Mantua Mantua ( ; it, Mantova ; Lombard language, Lombard and la, Mantua) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the Province of Mantua, province of the same name. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the Italian Capital of Culture ...

, Sewell, Mantua/Pitman, and

Pitman Pitman may refer to: * A coal miner, particularly in Northern England * Pitman (surname) * Pitman, New Jersey, United States * Pitman, Pennsylvania, United States * Pitman, Saskatchewan, Canada * Pitman Shorthand, a system of shorthand * Pitman ar ...

; and two stations in

. In a non-binding referendum, Wenonah citizens voted against allowing a station in town. The town council also passed such a resolution. Other towns have expressed concern over the route through them.

Regional transit plans

The Glassboro–Camden Line is part of a broader plan to expand a regional multimodal transportation network in

metro area including service across the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock (village), New York, Hancock, New York, the river flows for along the borders of N ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. Other elements of network would include additions and adjustments to

and Atlantic City Line and the development of new system of

bus rapid transit in New Jersey Bus rapid transit in New Jersey comprises limited-stop bus service, exclusive bus lanes (XBL) and bus bypass shoulders (BBS). Under the banner ''Next Generation Bus'' New Jersey Transit (NJT), the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT), ...

. The region is served by NJT buses 400–

499 __NOTOC__ Year 499 (Roman numerals, CDXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Iohannes without colleague (or, less frequ ...

. The

bus rapid transit Bus rapid transit (BRT), also called a busway or transitway, is a bus-based public transport system designed to have much more capacity, reliability and other quality features than a conventional bus system. Typically, a BRT system includes ...

component would be developed along the heavily traveled corridor comprising I-676, Route 42, and Route 55 The southern end of the system would be a newly constructed park and ride in Deptford on New Jersey Route 55 and an expanded one in

Winslow Winslow may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Winslow, Buckinghamshire, England, a market town and civil parish * Winslow Rural District, Buckinghamshire, a rural district from 1894 to 1974 United States and Canada * Rural Municipality of Winslo ...

with peak-hour buses running at 10–15 minute intervals. Travelling northwest, the two lines would converge to pass through downtown

, where transfers would be possible for other components of the network, including at the Walter Rand Transportation Center. They would then continue over the

Benjamin Franklin Bridge The Benjamin Franklin Bridge, originally named the Delaware River Bridge and known locally as the Ben Franklin Bridge, is a suspension bridge across the Delaware River connecting Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Camden, New Jersey. Owned and ...

, equipped with reversible or

contra-flow lane In transport engineering nomenclature, a counterflow lane or contraflow lane is a lane in which traffic flows in the opposite direction of the surrounding lanes. Contraflow lanes are often used for bicycles or bus rapid transit on what are o ...

s to a point near

Philadelphia City Hall Philadelphia City Hall is the seat of the municipal government of the City of Philadelphia. Built in the ornate Second Empire style, City Hall houses the chambers of the Philadelphia City Council and the offices of the Mayor of Philadelphia. It ...

References

External links