| Raritan Valley Line |
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| new jersey transit | |
| central railroad of new jersey | |
| SHOPPER'S DELIGHT | |
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ROUTE DESCRIPTION West of Cranford, the line follows the former Main Line of the former Central Railroad Of New Jersey , a subsidiary of the Reading Railroad . The main line originally ran through Elizabeth and Bayonne to Jersey City , leading to a terminal in what is today Liberty State Park . This station, which served Reading, Jersey Central, and former B & O Washington -Jersey City service, had direct connections, either by chartered bus, or by ferry, into Manhattan, the latter serving the financial district. Under the 1967 Aldene Plan , however, the Aldene Connection was built to the former Lehigh Valley Railroad right-of-way, rerouting trains to proceed to Newark Penn Station via a second connection ( Hunter Connection ), to the Northeast Corridor . As it has been since 1967, passengers bound for New York must disembark at Newark and change either to a Northeast Corridor or North Jersey Coast Line train operated by New Jersey Transit to New York Penn Station or PATH trains to the World Trade Center . This is due to an unfortunate combination of factors. First, the CNJ never Electrified the line when it was still in business, and its subsequent owners including Conrail and New Jersey Transit have never undertaken such a project. Therefore, motive power has been provided by Diesel-electric Locomotives , including variants of EMD 's F40PH and GP40 . The second is a regulation allowing only electric-powered trains in Manhattan below 96th Street. The end result is that a trip between New York and the Raritan Valley Line necessarily requires the use of two trains. SERVICE TO PHILLIPSBURG Service beyond High Bridge to Phillipsburg was discontinued in 1984 due to low ridership. There are plans to eventually restore service to Phillipsburg. Between Bloomsbury and Phillipsburg Norfolk Southern tracks will have to be used since Conrail (the previous freight operator) reconfigured its tracks in the Easton-Phillipsburg area, abandoning the ex-Lehigh Valley main between Easton and Phillipsburg and the ex-CNJ main between east of Phillipsburg and Bloomsbury. This was done so that all trains would cross the Delaware on the ex-CNJ bridge, because the ex-LV bridge was found to be structurally unsound. Where the ex-CNJ was abandoned east of Phillipsburg, a section of Interstate 78 was built on its right-of-way, and only one bridge was built for the ex-LV main and the ex-CNJ tracks removed. When service ran to Phillipsburg prior to 1984 there were separate passenger and freight lines, Conrail freights used the ex-LV, and Conrail/NJ DOT/NJ Transit commuter trains used the ex-CNJ. This is no longer possible today. There is only one track available between Easton and Bloomsbury for all rail traffic. If Phillipsburg commuter service returns it would tie up the one and only track at Phillipsburg that is used by many NS freights. The ex-LV main is no longer available at that point. A possible solution would be to build a passing siding at Phillipsburg Station so that commuter trains could idle at the station without tying up the main so that freights could pass through. SERVICE TO WEST TRENTON Another plan that has been proposed is to restore service on the former Reading Railroad's Jersey City branch track between Trenton and Bound Brook. Prior to 1983, Conrail commuter trains, using Budd Rail Diesel Car s, used what is now the SEPTA R3 West Trenton line between the former Reading Terminal and Newark (Jersey City prior to 1967--this allowed the Reading to compete with the Pennsylvania Railroad with Philadelphia/New York service). Restoration of this line, which is now owned by CSX Transportation , will allow an alternate Philadelphia/New York connection route, with electrified SEPTA trains using the West Trenton line to Trenton, with passengers switching over to NJT service to Newark. STATION STOPS
''Note: Most trains do not stop at Garwood, including all weekend trains. Only two trains per day (one inbound, one outbound) stop at Finderne, also known as Manville. Stations west of Raritan have limited service, weekdays only.'' |