But what type of rail? There are two types of rail vehicle technologies which need to be compared to establish what would be most beneficial to Union County. The Route 28 corridor crosses the County from Plainfield to Elizabethport, a distance of about 15 miles, and offers the historic Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ) as a valuable right-of- way for a new rail project.
Eight of these miles on the western end are currently being used by New Jersey Transit (NJT) as their Raritan Valley Line (RVL) from Cranford to Plainfield. Cranford to Elizabethport is mostly unused Conrail right-of-way and in Elizabethport some new right-of-way will be needed so as to provide convenient access to the mall and Newark Airport. Both technologies will require reconstruction and some new construction.
The two rail vehicle technologies; a) Electric Light Rail (LRT) or b) Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU).
Electric Light Rail (LRT) has become the most popular technology for new urban rail start-ups all across North America including New Jersey. In New Jersey two complementary projects are underway: the new Hudson waterfront line and the renovation of the Newark City Subway. These two projects have adopted the latest development in LRT technology - low floor cars. Low floor cars allow small non-intrusive platforms to be used that are more easily integrated into a city street layout. A single driver can operate multiple LRT cars during peak periods and with "proof of payment" (honor) fare collection the labor operating costs can be kept low. Also this single operator is either nonunion or of a bus union which is less costly than rail labor.
Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU) is basically passenger rail cars that are self-propelled. Union County has decades of experience with this technology. The CNJ operated the Budd Company's Rail Diesel Cars (RDC) across Union County beginning in the early 1950s and ending in the early 1980's with the Cranford - Elizabeth - Bayonne shuttle. The RDC offered the railroad better equipment utilization and less labor to operate and maintain than conventional locomotive trains. This was because the RDC operated with one man in the cab, not three, and without the need to turn could go out quickly for its next assignment.
What is the best technology to serve Union County? Service, capital cost and operating cost should guide the selection.
Service: Is it to be cross-county or local Elizabeth transit? The Transportation Advisory Board (TAB) to the Union County Freeholders has advocated a cross-county service since the beginning of the planning for the Elizabethport development projects. The TAB has taken this position believing that for the Elizabethport development projects to be successful there needed to be rail passenger access because the roads in the development area are limited and would be overwhelmed by these large projects. This congestion would be at its worst in the cross county corridor of South/ North Avenue (Rt. 28) which was the subject of a separate study on traffic and travel patterns. The South/ North Avenue Corridor Study Report, August 1997 reported that a surprising number of cars entering South or North Avenue all across Union County had Elizabeth Midtown and Elizabethport as their destination.
Capital (or project) cost and funding for LRT vs. DMU: LRT is being proposed to originate at the Newark Airport Monorail parking lot D station, travel east through the Elizabethport development area, stop on the shore of Newark Bay (ferry connection) then swing west along the former CNJ ROW to midtown Elizabeth. for a distance of five miles. Using the cost of the Hudson-Bergen LRT as a cost basis, which is costing $60 million per mile, the Elizabeth project would cost $300 million. To have this type of system serve all the way to Plainfield, about 17 miles, would exceed $1 billion! West of Cranford, the LRT would need to acquire a new ROW as LRT vehicles do not meet the FRA safety standards for railroads and could not share the tracks with NJT's Raritan Valley Line trains. The east end of this proposed line requires a costly bridge over the Turnpike and Conrail's chemical coast railroad line.
The DMU plan, devised by Paul Mulligan, member and former Chair of the TAB, uses a vehicle which would comply with FRA vehicle safety standards. Three builders are available as suppliers. Surveying the construction needs from west to east -- Plainfield to Cranford:
(1) Eight miles would use existing NJT Raritan Valley Line track, scheduled to operate between NJT trains.-No construction costs.
(2) The cost of construction from Cranford to the Turnpike in Elizabeth, on the high quality former CNJ ROW-Five miles at $3 million/ mile or $15 million.
(3) Going two miles from the Turnpike, around the edge of Newark Bay, to a terminus transportation center near exit 13a, would require new ROW, roadbed and track - at $3.5 million/ mile or $7 million. Eight stations, having a budget of $8 million would be at: Grant Ave. Plainfield, Garwood, Roselle, Elmora, Midtown Elizabeth (transfer to Northeast Corridor and Coast Line trains), Singer Place, Ferry Terminal, and Jersey Gardens Mall. An "intermodal Elizabethport Transportation Center" near exit 13a would be the eastern terminus for the DMU service, a stop for buses on the Turnpike, the western terminus for the Airport Monorail plus an Airport parking garage.
(4) The Airport monorail and Airport parking could cost between $200 to $300 million, paid for by FAA airport user fees with little or no cost to the project. The acquisition of the vehicles could be through creative leasing or purchase. Budget $50 million for vehicles. The total cost of this project-excluding the Airport monorail extension and intermodal station-would be $80 million.
Operating cost: LRT's one-man operation is technically possible with DMU, if a proof of payment fare collection system could be negotiated with labor, providing comparable operating cost and fares.
DMU may offer the most for Union County: low capital cost, $80 million Elizabethport to Plainfield (vs. a one billion LRT), and the flexibility to expand west (Somerville) for only the cost of more vehicles. Track and shared stations (and their maintenance) are with existing NJT services. The CNJ ROW is wide and separated from local streets so the low-floor advantage, which is important on Hudson-Bergen LRT, does not matter in Union County. Either type of station could be built on the line east of Elizabeth. With DMU, due to FRA compatibility, NJT could operate Raritan Valley line trains to Elizabeth if there is a blockage on the Conrail line from Aldene to Hunter, instead of very inadequate busing from/to Cranford. CSX and NS could operate merchandise freight trains from Bound Brook to Elizabeth yard.
Interstate Component: Identical DMU equipment could operate from St. George terminal on Staten Island along the abandoned North Shore line and over the single track bridge, with freight trains from Howland Hook and perhaps Brooklyn in the distant future. The DMU equipment would turn north via a new connection to Conrail's Chemical Coast line and connect with the proposed DMU line at Jersey Gardens Mall and run north to the intermodal Airport station. This proposed line would give Staten Islanders rail access to Newark Airport plus Elizabethport shopping malls and by transfer at Jersey Gardens Mall to Elizabeth (with Northeast Corridor connections) and other Union County locations. This proposal provides a Transit alternative to the Goethals twin bridge proposal advocated by the Port Authority.
Current Happenings: Union County and Elizabeth City Governments strongly favor LRT, as does NJT's new Executive Director. Union County hired Raytheon, which is part of the consortium building Hudson-Bergen LRT, to do the environmental study and build the proposed LRT line under a Public-Private Partnership, subject to FTA approval for the Federal funds portion. While Union County transportation activists believe that a conflict of interest exists, they recognize political reality and propose the Dual Build Alternative, which is also supported by New Jersey Association of Railroad Passengers (NJ-ARP). These activists question the ridership numbers for Phase 1, which are based in part on the Port Authority requiring that airport employees park off the airport at new parking lots to be served by LRT.
The Dual Build Alternative proposes building DMU as described above from Plainfield to Elizabeth Midtown and LRT from Elizabeth Midtown to Newark Airport. Both projects would be started at the same time.
Union County prefers a three-phase approach with the LRT as Phase 1, service from Elizabeth to Cranford as Phase 2 and Cranford to Plainfield as Phase 3. The current state plan of new rail initiatives dropped Cranford to Plainfield.
Union County released a Raytheon study for Phases 2 and 3 developing routes and preliminary ridership numbers for each mode. If the LRT is extended to Cranford, a difficult transfer occurs westbound involving a change of platforms with stairs. If the LRT is extended to Plainfield:
1. the difficult Cranford Transfer remains;
2. the Raritan Valley line (RVL) from Cranford to Plainfield becomes two single track railroads-one for LRT and one for RVL diesel trains to Newark-with passing sidings presumably between stations where there is room for four tracks. Westfield has and Plainfield will have high level platforms that reduce the right of way to two tracks;
3. At Plainfield, a difficult transfer occurs westbound involving a change of platforms with stairs to and from the street and a moderate walk;
4. Freight operation by NS & CSX becomes very difficult.
Under Dual Build Alternative options: If the DMU is cutback from Elizabeth to Roselle or Cranford, transportation activists believe it will die from under use due to double transfer required just to travel to Elizabeth plus a third transfer there for many riders.
Evaluation: The Dual Build Alternative retains many advantages of the DMU plan: one-seat ride to Elizabeth-a destination for Union County residents and transfer point to NJT's NEC & NJCL North to New York, already a two-seat ride due to transfer in Newark and south to New Brunswick, Trenton and Jersey Shore towns. NJT is planning a 15 minute headway from Rahway to New York during off-peak hours. If the DMU service operates every 30 minutes in between the hourly Raritan Valley off-peak service, service to New York would be tripled. The main negative is an extra transfer at Elizabeth Midtown to the LRT for those going to the Jersey Gardens and Ikea Malls and Newark Airport. However, transfer to New York bound NEC/NJCL trains for one stop to the Airport station will provide a much quicker airport trip. A DMU Phase 2 could bring Staten Island DMUs to Elizabeth Midtown-with a transfer to the LRT at Elizabethport for the Airport and malls-using the existing freight railroad tracks.
The author acknowledges the assistance of Paul Mulligan in preparing this article. S
Author's Opinion
The DMU proposal is clearly superior as a pure transit project: It can handle the volumes projected for LRT; it has the potential to serve more people and requires fewer transfers; it has a much lower project capital cost, since the very expensive parts- the Monorail extension over the turnpike and railroad-would be paid for by the $3 airport user fee, as could the intermodal terminal and parking garage. If the FTA rejected it, the capital cost is low enough that the state and county could fund it; the same is less true of LRT due to its much higher cost.