Posted on 12/28/2002 10:03:10 PM PST by Coleus
The little commuter rail line that would Saturday, December 28, 2002
By STEVE STRUNSKY Associated Press
GLEN RIDGE - Since its completion in September, NJ Transit's Montclair Connection - first envisioned in 1929 - has allowed more commuters to ride trains directly into Manhattan.
But three stations serving nearly 800 commuters were closed in the process, and now a former train conductor and several supporters are battling the agency to let him run his own railroad serving the shuttered stations.
Jim Wilson, who also runs a small freight railroad, wants to reopen commuter service on what is known as the lower Boonton Branch of the Montclair Line, and its three stations in Glen Ridge, Bloomfield, and Kearny.
Wilson, 57, is a Glen Ridge native who as a boy shined shoes at the Rowe Street station and began acting as its unofficial station master at age 16, opening up the tiny 1888 Victorian station for morning commuters.
He now leases the station, with its original wood-burning stove, from NJ Transit as the office for his freight line, the New York & Greenwood Lake Railroad, which runs on a separate line between Garfield and Passaic.
Wilson would run rush-hour trains only, covering operating costs with fares similar to NJ Transit's. Commuter railroads are notorious money losers that routinely receive public subsidies for helping reduce automobile traffic and pollution.
And Wilson said he would seek federal funds to pay for maintenance and $6 million in repairs to two drawbridges over the Hackensack and Passaic rivers.
The 11-mile stretch of Boonton track used to carry 770 daily commuters from the three stations to Hoboken.
But service was discontinued when NJ Transit linked the upper part of the Boonton branch to the Montclair branch of the Morris and Essex Line in Montclair.
The lower Boonton branch is now used only for freight by Norfolk Southern, a partner with CSX in the ownership of Conrail, which operates the Boonton branch.
NJT is probably afraid that he will do a better job.
Who knows, if successful, maybe Exit 148 will be the first to ride on his line?
The Montclair line, although great for those who live in that town, has not been without controversy. I believe they had to condemn a few buildings in a low income area when they were working on the extension a few months back.
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