Thanks, Gary; would you start a topic in the forum with this post so that we can keep track of such ideas? I am sure that there will be opportunities to weigh in and if we keep our thoughts together in one spot, it will be easier to find them at the time.
Sally
[snip]
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Thu, Jul 22, 2021 2:10 pm
Subject: Re: Cutoff: "Much closer to becoming real" THEY NEED AN ERASER on some of their numbers.
Trips to intermediate points will probably be a major factor.
The exit from I 80 east to I 287 south is nearly always backed up, sometimes a mile, due to poor design that wasn't fixed during a major overhaul of the interchange several years ago. Many cars in the mess have PA license plates, often more than any other.
Scranton service would (SHOULD) pass through Morristown rather than using the Boonton Line. During several public meetings, I suggested these trains only stop at Dover, Morristown, Convent (many employer shuttles meet trains there rather than Morristown), Summit, and Broad St to maximize connections while reducing running time. Such trains should be able to run between Dover and New York in an hour, rather than the typical 90 minute schedule.
Gary R. Kazin
Winter location:
CSX Milepost SX992.39
FEC Milepost 321.51
Yamato Rd
Boca Raton, FL
Summer location:
DL&W RR Milepost R35.7
Rockaway, New Jersey
On Thursday, July 22, 2021, 1:59:02 PM EDT, <sageedit@aol.com> wrote:
That is why the Pennsylvania study, I imagine; agreed that the rest of N.J. needs Pennsylvania to make sense. Of course, once the line is built, there may well be development along it; that is the usual pattern. Also, some commuters could do part of the trip, not the end-to-end journey—I often took the train from Woodcliff Lake to my job in Hackensack.
Sally
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Thu, Jul 22, 2021 1:29 pm
Subject: Re: Cutoff: "Much closer to becoming real" THEY NEED AN ERASER on some of their numbers.
NJT has never had funding to go beyond Andover, which is the 'initial operable segment' of the route to Scranton. There is little point in going farther across NJ as a next segment without continuing to Scranton; there is little population. Realistically, Pennsylvania has to put up the money to go beyond Andover and to subsidize service. Amtrak service would be a state-supported operation, so Pennsylvania would have to pay for that also.
Either way, it's a long trip. Martz takes over three hours between the PABT and Scranton but that's less time than a train would because its route is more direct. Much of Martz's riders are from the Poconos, not Scranton. I would not consider it a service for daily commuters; it is simply too long - even before COVID caused so many people to work from home.
Gary R. Kazin
Winter location:
CSX Milepost SX992.39
FEC Milepost 321.51
Yamato Rd
Boca Raton, FL
Summer location:
DL&W RR Milepost R35.7
Rockaway, New Jersey
On Thursday, July 22, 2021, 9:36:17 AM EDT, David Alan <trainadvocate@icloud.com> wrote:
It’s not only that, Jim. NJT has been purportedly working on this project for years and is getting essentially nowhere.
If they can’t even get to somewhere in Andover (to a park-and-ride away from the town center that would have room for a few dozen vehicles), how do they think they will ever get to Scranton?
DPA
> On Jul 22, 2021, at 8:46 AM, Jim Blaze <jim-blaze@comcast.net> wrote:
> YIKES!
Did anybody bother to inquire why a 7-mile rebuilding costs a eye-popping $8.8 million per mile?
“A 7-mile section from Andover to Port Morris is currently under construction at a cost of $62 million.”
Normal costs for a mile of replaced ties, ballast, and steel rails should price out at most at about $350,000 to maybe $550,000 per mile.
Even if the $62 million estimate was a typo -- and we move the decimal point to read $6.2 million ---- THAT IS STILL A HIGH COST ESTIMATE>
Reminder --
<--spotting these glitches is what I've done for a living.
Cheers!
Jim Blaze
> On Jul 22, 2021, at 8:25 AM, bobsin@verizon.net wrote:
>
> A 7-mile section from Andover to Port Morris is currently under construction at a cost of $62 million.