Hackensack NJ, almost two weeks after Bergen County Executive Jim Tedesco said, “Let me make this crystal clear: the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail extension into Bergen County is not a luxury; it’s a necessity. This project, which is critically important for the residents and businesses of one of the most densely populated regions in the nation, holds the key to alleviating congestion, meeting the ever-growing mass transit demands of our community, and ultimately fostering a healthier and sustainable environment for all,” said County Executive Jim Tedesco.
The Northern Branch is a freight rail line owned by CSX Transportation that runs through Hudson and Bergen Counties to the New York State Border. The Northern Branch Corridor, through which the rail line traverses, is a densely settled suburban environment that has not been served by passenger rail since the discontinuation of service on the Northern Branch and West Shore Lines in the 1950s and 60s.
The Northern Branch Corridor Project calls for transit improvements in northeastern Hudson and southeastern Bergen Counties through the restoration of passenger rail service on an existing freight rail line. The electric light rail service would operate on West Side Avenue in North Bergen, and then on existing railroad right-of-way owned by CSX Transportation (CSX) between 91st Street in North Bergen and the northern border of Englewood and would introduce new station stops in North Bergen, Ridgefield, Palisades Park, Leonia, and Englewood.
Project Planning
The growth of automobile usage and accompanying roadway congestion in recent decades led planners and officials to search for solutions to the growing traffic problems in the Bergen County area. In the mid-1990s the West Shore Region Study provided a comprehensive examination of multi-modal opportunities throughout Bergen County, New Jersey and Rockland County, New York. Recommended for further study was an extension of the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail (HBLR) from 85th Street in North Bergen along the Northern Branch to Tenafly, New Jersey.
The Northern Branch Corridor DEIS was prepared by NJ TRANSIT in cooperation with the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to evaluate the benefits, costs and social, economic and environmental impacts of constructing and operating passenger rail service on the Northern Branch. The DEIS evaluated two Build Alternatives: the Preferred Alternative, which extended existing Hudson-Bergen Light Rail (HBLR) service from North Bergen to the Tenafly-Cresskill border, and a similar HBLR extension that terminated at Route 4 in Englewood.
The DEIS was published in November 2011, and can be reviewed here: Northern Branch DEIS.
Public hearings were held in January 2012, and the public comment period closed on February 21, 2012. More than 1,200 comments were received and reviewed by NJ TRANSIT. While many comments expressed support for the service, residents and community leaders in Tenafly were strongly opposed to the extension of service into their community. After considering the comments, FTA and NJ TRANSIT have developed a new alignment that would extend HBLR service from North Bergen to Englewood Hospital, which is north of Route 4 and south of Tenafly. Light rail service would not extend past Englewood.
This new alignment results in changes to the service plan and potential environmental and social impacts explored in the DEIS circulated for comment in 2012. As a result, this new alignment and associated changes have been analyzed in a Supplemental DEIS (SDEIS) and circulated for public comment and agency feedback in a process closely approximating the one undertaken for the DEIS.
The SDEIS was published on March 24, 2017, and can be reviewed here: Northern Branch SDEIS.
Similar to a DEIS, an SDEIS requires a public hearing and public comment period. The comments on the SDEIS and DEIS will be addressed together in the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS). A 60-day public comment period will follow the notice of availability (NOA) of the SDEIS, during which time NJ TRANSIT will hold a public hearing. Comments will be collected and reviewed in the same manner as conducted for the DEIS. Provided that the SDEIS comments do not present compelling arguments for substantial revision to the SDEIS Preferred Alternative, an FEIS will be prepared, incorporating the SDEIS findings and unchanged elements from the DEIS. A response to comments chapter will be included in the FEIS, addressing all comments received during the prior two comment periods.
Ridgewood NJ, As road conditions improve following yesterday’s storm, NJ TRANSIT anticipates resuming bus service statewide for Thursday, March 8 beginning at 4 a.m. Rail service on the Northeast Corridor, North Jersey Coast Line and Pascack Valley Line is expected to operate on regular weekday service.
However, Raritan Valley, Atlantic City, Main/Bergen County, Port Jervis and Morristown, Gladstone Branch and Montclair Boonton lines were heavily impacted by the storm. The storm’s heavy, wet snow toppled trees and blew overhead wires onto the rails, which has caused significant cleanup efforts. The severe conditions, particularly in along the Morris & Essex Lines in Morris County where snowfall accumulations were greatest, have rendered much of the rail infrastructure inaccessible. Crews will be working throughout the night to assess and restore service on these lines as quickly as possible. Service updates on these lines will be announced as they become available.
Customers are strongly advised to build in extra travel time and check the status of the system prior to making their trip by visiting njtransit.com or utilizing the My Transit alert system (www.njtransit.com/mytransit), which delivers travel advisories to your smartphone.
Bus anticipates resuming regular service at 4 a.m. Thursday. Customers can expect delays and detours due to local road conditions.
Access Link will resume regular service in Region 3 (Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland and South Ocean) for Thursday at 7 a.m. Regions 2, 4, 5 and 6 will resume service at noon on Thursday.
Hudson-Bergen Light Rail, Newark Light Rail and RiverLINE are all expected to operate on regular weekday schedules.
Systemwide Cross-Honoring in Effect: To give customers as many additional travel options as possible, NJ TRANSIT will offer full systemwide cross-honoring, enabling customers to use their ticket or pass on an alternate travel mode including rail, light rail, bus, PATH and NY Waterway. For example, customers who normally take the bus from Rutherford to the Port Authority Bus Terminal may use their bus pass or ticket on the train from Rutherford to New York Penn Station. Similarly, customers who normally take the bus between Atlantic City and Lindenwold may use the Atlantic City Rail Line instead at no additional charge.
For the latest travel information, customers should visit njtransit.com, access NJ TRANSIT’s Twitter feed at @NJTRANSIT or listen to broadcast traffic reports. Additionally, NJ TRANSIT will provide the most current service information via the My Transit alert system (www.njtransit.com/mytransit), which delivers travel advisories to your smartphone. Service information is also available by calling (973) 275-5555.
Travel Advice:
Listen closely to public address announcements at stations for late-breaking service information.
Build additional travel time into your trip to a station, terminal or bus stop.
Stairs, flooring and platforms can be slippery, so please use caution when walking along wet surfaces or any outdoor surface exposed to the weather. Use extra care when boarding or exiting buses and trains.
Report slippery or unsafe conditions to bus operators, train crews or NJ TRANSIT staff.
If you park, ensure your car is stocked with a snow brush and ice scraper so you can clear your car upon returning to the lot.
Ridgewood NJ, Looks like New Jersey Transit will no longer be listen to riders conversations on certain lines. New Jersey’s transit agency announced Wednesday it’s ending its use of audio surveillance systems on some of its trains.
Audio and video recording have been in use on New Jersey Transit’s River Line between Trenton and Camden, and had said it was planning to use the system on light rail trains in Newark and in Hudson County.
In a carefully worded statement NJT said , “Following a careful internal review that involved weighing security benefits, operational necessities and evolving industry practices, NJ Transit has decided to remove the audio recording feature from light rail vehicles,” it said in an email. “Customer safety remains our top priority and it was determined that removing the audio recording feature would not in any way compromise that standard.”
Objections and skepticism were raised by many rail rider groups and civil liberties advocates over privacy issues ,including this blog.
While no evidence has so far been presented that NJT was listening to conversations on the Main Line or the Bergen Line’s that service Ridgewood ,local commuters felt it was a bit invasive .
“Not only was NJ Transit collecting countless hours of train conversations, but the agency irresponsibly failed to put policies in place to prevent misuse of the recordings or to protect passengers’ privacy,” the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey said in a statement. “State agencies should think twice before dismissing New Jerseyans’ privacy rights so easily.”
After news leaked out of the audio surveillance in April, Interim Executive Director Dennis Martin defended its use and said the agency was using whatever tools at its disposal to “deter criminal activity” and keep passengers safe, citing global terror attacks.
A train delay for the ages; increasing service in Bergen County among several stalled plans
NOVEMBER 29, 2015 LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2015, 12:27 AM
BY CHRISTOPHER MAAG
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
In May 1928, a group of forward thinkers in New York City drew a map of North Jersey that envisioned passenger trains running from Englewood to Jersey City on an existing set of railroad tracks, part of a network they confidently named the “Ultimate Suburban Rapid Transit Plan.”
At 1 p.m. on a Thursday this month, 86 years later, three powerful New Jersey senators gathered in a conference room overlooking the same tracks to demand a return of passenger trains to the line.
“This is a project that should have happened years ago,” state Sen. Paul Sarlo, D-Wood-Ridge, said of the project, known as the “Northern Branch.”
Bringing more rail service to Bergen County may be North Jersey’s most stubborn transportation dream. Even now, depending on how one counts, there are between six and 11 efforts to return passenger service to historic train lines. And although passenger trains, bus lines and highways have spread across the region in the post-World War II era, people here have pushed, planned, schemed and begged for even more commuter rail, either to reduce traffic congestion or to connect places that are difficult to reach by mass transit. And the problem grows more acute the closer one gets to New York City. For densely populated towns in eastern Bergen County, like Englewood, Fort Lee and Tenafly, trains simply are not an option, as state Sen. Loretta Weinberg, D-Teaneck, often points out.
