Passaic–Bergen Rail Line

File:Hawthorne station.jpg

Hawthorne station would be the terminus and serve as a transfer to the Main Line.

The Passaic-Bergen Passenger Rail Project is a dormant project by New Jersey Transit (NJT) to reintroduce passenger service on a portion of the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway (NYSW) right-of-way in Passaic and Bergen counties. Plans call for service to run from Hawthorne south to Paterson, then east to Hackensack using newly built, FRA-compliant diesel multiple unit rail cars. When announced in the mid-2000s NJT stated construction could begin in early 2009 and last approximately 3 years and estimated the cost of the project to be $156 million. In a memorandum of understanding NJT agreed to pay NYSW more than $20 million for a 75-year easement for trackage rights on its freight line.

NYS&W

The NYS&W ran passenger service until June 30, 1966. The line terminated at Pavonia Terminal in Jersey City until 1961, and until 1966 at Susquehanna Transfer in North Bergen, which had opened on August 1, 1939 to allow transfer to buses through the Lincoln Tunnel. NYSW freight operations terminate at the Landbridge Terminal south of the North Bergen Yard near Secaucus Road. While outside of the scope of the project the railroad and the city of Hackensack replaced a rail trestle to the east of the proposed terminus with a contingency for a future additional track and passenger platform.

Route

Passaic-Bergen Rail Line (proposed)
Legend NYS&W Main Line freight Hawthorne Main Line 6th Avenue Lafayette Street Madison Avenue 20th Avenue Vreeland Avenue Boulevard Bergen County Line American Legion Drive Pascack Valley Line State Street NYS&W Main Line freight

The line would run for approximate 8.3 miles in a generally east-west alignment, creating a cross-county corridor running between Hawthorne, where transfer to the Main Line would be available, and Hackensack, about two blocks from the Hackensack Bus Terminal. There would be five stations in Paterson, one station in Elmwood Park, New Jersey, and an additional station in Hackensack. It would also cross Saddle Brook, Rochelle Park and Maywood, but would not have any station stops in them.

Proposed stations

• Hawthorne
• 6th Avenue – Paterson
• Lafayette Street
• Madison Avenue
• 20th Avenue
• Vreeland Avenue
• Boulevard – Elmwood Park
• American Legion Drive – Hackensack University Medical Center
• State St. – Hackensack

See also

NYS&W (passenger 1939-1966)
Legend
Butler Yard Butler Bloomingdale I-287 Erie NY&GL Pompton Junction Pompton Lakes West Oakland Ramapo River Oakland Crystal Lake Campgaw Wyckoff Goffle Brook Wortendyke Midland Park Goffle Brook NJ 208 North Hawthorne Hawthorne Erie Main Line Erie Main Line Passaic River Riverside - Paterson Broadway - Paterson Vreeland Avenue - Paterson Passaic River I-80 NJ 17 East Paterson NYS&W Passaic Branch Norfolk Southern NJT Bergen County Line Norfolk Southern NJT Bergen County Line Passaic Junction Passaic Junction Yard I-80 Rochelle Park Garden State Parkway Maywood Prospect Avenue Erie NJ&NJ NJT Pascack Valley Line Hackensack River Street Hackensack River Bogota CSX River Subdivision US 46 Ridgefield Park Little Ferry CP5 Overpeck Creek New Jersey Turnpike Western Spur New Jersey Turnpike Eastern Spur NYSW Edgewater Branch Erie Northern Branch Babbitt Granton Junction West Shore/HBLR New Durham North Bergen Susquehanna Transfer (to 1966) Lincoln Tunnel Approach I-495 PRR Northeast Corridor/NJT NEC West End Yard (Landbridge Terminal) trackage rights Erie Norfolk Southern Croxton Yard Erie Main Line NY&GL Newark Branch   Conrail Northern Running Track Passaic and Harsimus Line US 1 DLW Montclair M&E NJT Montclair M&E Main Long Dock Tunnel National Docks Secondary   Bergen Arches Erie Yards Pavonia Terminal (to 1958)

External links

• Restore Passenger Service on the New York, Susquehanna and Western Rail Line official site
• Major Investment Study Notification