September 7, 2008
Battlefield Latest Holdup for Rail Line
By COLEEN DEE BERRY

MANALAPAN

WHEN prosperous central New Jersey farmers built the Freehold-Jamesburg Agricultural Railroad in the early 1850s, little did they suspect they would be laying the ground for a controversy a century and a half later.

The rail line the farmers created to transport crops ran straight through the heart of one of the largest American Revolution battlefields. On June 28, 1778, George Washington's Continental Army fought the British to what many historians consider a draw in what later became known as the Battle of Monmouth.

When the farmers built their railroad about 75 years later smack through the site of the old battlefield, no one objected.

"In the 1850s the farmers were most concerned about getting their crops to New York City, not with preserving a battlefield," said James T. Raleigh, president of the Friends of Monmouth Battlefield.

Now, that same rail line seems to be an ideal location for a new commuter rail plan to serve parts of central New Jersey, an idea that officials from Monmouth and Ocean Counties have been promoting. The problem is, the old battlefield was granted National Landmark status in 1966, and New Jersey and National Park Service officials object to the line running through the historic site.

...

The battlefield objection is the latest in a long line of roadblocks to the Monmouth, Ocean and Middlesex rail line, often called the MOM line. Proponents contend that the passenger line is needed to ease congestion in the Route 9 corridor.

Posted on: Wednesday, 23 May 2007, 15:00 CDT

By DAVID A. MICHAELS, STAFF WRITER

A minibus company that began as an informal service catering to immigrants in Passaic County now carries more commuters between Paterson and New York than NJ Transit.

While critics have scoffed at the worn-out appearance of some minibuses, riders praise the Spanish Transportation company for its inexpensive and frequent service.

Even state transportation officials acknowledged that Spanish Transportation has evolved into an essential commuter service for a growing region that demands more mass transit than the state can supply.

"Our elected officials have realized the services we provide to the cities are a necessity," said Norberto Curitomai, the founder and president of Spanish Transportation. "We provide a quality public transportation, at lower rates that is maybe not provided by New Jersey Transit."

...

Curitomai's drivers make express trips in about 45 minutes compared with an hour or more on NJ Transit's long, winding circuits. His buses carry an estimated 30,000 daily passenger trips, Curitomai said.

Yet his success hasn't hurt NJ Transit's Paterson business. The state agency's revenue grew 18 percent between 2002 and 2006.

Source: The Bergen Record 

The North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority yesterday approved a proposal by Gov. Jon S. Corzine to spend $1 billion in federal highway funds over 10 years on a new commuter rail tunnel under the Hudson River. The tunnel is expected to cost $7.5 billion to build, and officials have raised $3 billion of that, including the funds approved yesterday. Supporters say the tunnel will double rail capacity between New York City and New Jersey and will reduce highway congestion. New Jersey will also apply for funds from the Federal Transit Administration for the project. Construction of the two-track tunnel is expected to begin in 2009 and end in 2016. To make up for the diverted federal highway funds, New Jersey will use $1 billion from its Transportation Trust Fund on state road work.

(CBS/AP) NEWARK New Jersey's gambling mecca will soon be more easily accessible for commuters by rail, but not those living in New Jersey.

Express train service from New York to Atlantic City, scheduled to begin in late 2007 or early 2008, has no planned stops in the Garden State.

Details are being finalized for the new service, dubbed "ACES" for Atlantic City Express Service. But in the current scenario, the trains would run nonstop on the Northeast Corridor tracks from New York to just north of Philadelphia, then head east and continue nonstop to Atlantic City.

New Jersey Transit to Roll Out Double-Decker Cars This Year
By TINA KELLEY
Published: October 12, 2006
NEWARK, Oct. 11 — New Jersey Transit plans to begin rolling out double-decker trains — without the dreaded middle seat of its current cars — in December, easing the commute for some of its 72,000 customers who travel to New York City on a typical weekday, the agency announced Wednesday.
In the next three years, the transit agency said, 234 new cars will supplement the 908 single-level cars currently operating...

August 12, 2006
Same Problem, Different Stations
By VINCENT M. MALLOZZI
AT 8:30 on a recent morning in West Windsor, N.J., Ken Anderson was sitting behind the wheel of his car, waiting patiently for a train to pull into the Princeton Junction station from New York.
He was not picking anyone up. In what has become part of his daily hourlong commute into Manhattan, Mr. Anderson was staking out reverse commuters so he could grab a parking spot.
‘‘There’s usually one or two people who get off the train and into their cars, and when one of their spots opens up, I make my move,” said Mr. Anderson, 34, of Hightstown, N.J., who works as an accounts payable supervisor at Atari. “To have any chance for a parking spot, you have to get here before 6:30 in the morning or after 8. For me, parking every day is an adventure.”
.... 

Speedier cheap rail to N.Y.?
NJ Transit wants to extend its line north from Phila.

By Jennifer Moroz
Inquirer Trenton Bureau
Mon, Jun. 05, 2006

NJ Transit chief George Warrington is pitching a new rail service between Philadelphia and Newark, with the goal of giving central New Jerseyans a quick, cheap ride into Center City.

But the trains, which could be running within a couple of years, also would give another travel option to Philadelphians always on the lookout for a good deal into New York...