March 13, 1998
The New Jersey Association of Railroad Passengers (NJ-ARP) strongly urges the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) to endorse in its entirety the recently released recommendations of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANY&NJ) Access to the Region's Core (ARC) study. A rapid endorsement of the study's conclusions, and the subsequent implementation of a stable secure funding package from a variety of constituencies will enable key elements of the plan to move ahead ensuring 21st century mobility for all residents of the tri-state region. Once a funding package is in place, all aspects proposed by ARC can begin to be constructed through a process of staged implementation as the monies are made available.
Recent events -- as demonstrated by the overwhelming success of New Jersey Transit's (NJT) MidTown Direct service -- have proved unequivocally the need for accelerating all of ARC's tri-state capacity and enhanced mobility expansion recommendations. These recommendations include, among other things, the building of an additional two track tunnel beneath the Hudson River from New Jersey to New York City and the linking, by a five track tunnel below Manhattan, of New York's Penn Station with that of Grand Central Terminal. The strong and growing demand for MidTown Direct service, inaugurated in June 1996 (permitting direct access for Morris & Essex line riders to New York's Penn Station), is threatening the line by becoming a victim of its own success.
While incremental improvements for MidTown Direct service are continuing, it is obvious that additional track capacity is going to be needed to supply the ever increasing demand for rail service. Demand is expected to be generated by passengers from:
Acting in concert, these four improvements will overwhelm existing capacity and lead to service degradation on the already intensively used two track Amtrak Northeast Corridor entry to midtown Manhattan.
Meanwhile, New York has decided to be proactive in order to satisfy the concerns of its rail riders by forging ahead with the earliest possible implementation of its East Side Access (ESA) Study results. This study would allow Long Island trains to use the now vacant 63rd street tunnel between the boroughs of Queens and Manhattan and access the available track capacity in Grand Central Terminal. Importantly, this aspect was an important segment of the ARC study recommendations. Having the joint support of New York Governor Pataki and New York Senator D'Amato virtually ensures this phase of ARC with early completion.
In order to meet the demand for regional rail service from New Jersey, NJ-ARP hereby urges that the state and the NJDOT take immediate action and begin discussions aimed at providing an approval process to construct tunnels for two additional trans-Hudson River tracks -- as recommended in the ARC study -- between New Jersey and New York City sufficient to accommodate double deck passenger equipment. These two additional tracks would supplement the already existing two track tunnels which were completed for the opening of New York's Pennsylvania Station in September 1910 and are now approaching 90 years in age. Any closure of these aging tunnels for overhaul or intensive maintenance would congeal rail access to New York City and result in unacceptable delays to passengers thereby severely impacting the economic viability of the entire tri-state region.
Over the short term, NJ-ARP suggests the through-running of NJT and Metro North regional rail trains through the New York Gateway thereby connecting Connecticut, New York and New Jersey with an integrated rail service today with existing and available equipment. By not having to turn regional rail trains in Manhattan, both these agencies would be gaining valuable platform and storage space in the already overcrowded New York Penn Station complex.
NJ-ARP also suggests the acquisition of double deck cars (similar to those the Long Island Rail Road have now on order), the expansion of yard capacity throughout the region, and the addition of even further platform access points than those now under consideration in New York's Penn Station.
Related topic:
These files were created by Bob Scheurle.