State Rail Plan
The New Jersey Department of
Transportation (NJDOT) and The
New Jersey Transit Corporation
(NJ TRANSIT) have prepared a
Final
Draft State Rail Plan (pdf
4.8m). Public
comment was received on the Draft State
Rail Plan in November 2012 and the
Plan was submitted to the Federal
Railroad Administration in December
2012. In late 2008, Congress
passed the landmark Passenger
Rail Improvement and Investment
Act (PRIIA). This legislation
mandates that each state prepare
a passenger and freight rail
plan.
The State Rail
Plan provides the opportunity
to articulate New Jersey's
vision for rail freight and
passenger transportation,
and to establish priorities
for future investments and
operations. The Plan will
become a roadmap for maximizing
the utility and potential
of New Jersey's rail assets.
New Jersey is a national
leader in passenger rail
transportation. Amtrak |
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and NJ TRANSIT passenger
rail operations provide more
than 900,000 passenger trips
each weekday on a system that
serves not only New Jersey, but
also travelers from throughout
the Northeast and beyond, who
connect to other transport modes
at a diverse range of intermodal
transfer points such as Newark
Penn Station, New York Penn Station,Trenton
Transportation Center, Newark
Liberty International Airport,
and the Hoboken Terminal.
| New Jersey's
freight railroads also serve
an essential transportation
role. Three United States
(US) North American Class
I railroads, two Conrail
operations, and more than
a dozen shortline/regional
railroads operate nearly
1,000 miles of |
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track. In
2009, 37 million tons of rail
freight moved through the state.
In that same year, New Jersey
ranked fifteenth nationally in
the number of carloads originated
and twelfth in carloads terminated.
The freight railroads play a
vital role in moving goods to
and from the State's ports – about
15 percent of the Port of New
York and New Jersey's containers
currently move by rail, a modal
share that is anticipated to
increase when the new class
of post-Panamax vessels begins
serving the Port. About half
of the goods arriving in this
region from overseas enter the
US through West Coast ports and
travel cross country by rail.
Agricultural and mining products,
also important, depart the southern
portion of the State by rail.
In addition, the railroads move
a wide array of other products
in New Jersey, including food,
lumber, paper, and steel products. Issues
Both rail passenger and freight
operations are faced with a set
of interrelated challenges moving
forward:
- Significant portions
of the passenger and freight
rail system are at or nearing
capacity, and will not be
able to accommodate expected increases
in demand for passenger and
freight movement without investment.
- State of good repair issues
affecting both rail infrastructure
and rolling stock have already
begun to impact reliability
of passenger and freight movement
on the State's rail system.
The State and private rail operators
must determine how to maintain
the rail system to preserve
existing service and set the
groundwork for expanding passenger
and freight rail services.
- Connectivity
issues – the
state rail network is comprised
of a half-dozen legacy railroads.
Even after years of efforts
to integrate the state rail
network there are major improvements
and connections that would
simplify rail operations.
- Operational
constraints contribute
to delays and affect the ability
of passenger and freight operators
to maximize throughput on certain
lines.
- Although New Jersey
benefits from having a single
commuter rail operator in NJ
TRANSIT, the State still has
to negotiate a complex institutional
framework, including a need
to coordinate with freight
rail operators at key junctions
and some shared track, and
with other passenger rail operators
like Amtrak and Long Island
Rail Road at New York Penn Station,
SEPTA at Trenton, PATH at Newark,
Hoboken and Jersey City.
- Private
freight rail operators also
encounter institutional disconnects
when operating over passenger
lines and in interacting with
other freight railroads; for
example, managing the interchange
of railcars between Class I
and shortline rail operators that
may have differing labor agreements
and work rules.
- Both intercity
passenger rail and freight
rail operations must be coordinated
over multi-state service
networks. To some extent, improvements
in New Jersey must be matched
with corresponding improvements
in other states.
- Last, but
certainly not least, New
Jersey must determine how to fund
future state-of-good-repair projects
while improving and expanding
services to meet the needs
and expectations of passengers
and freight shippers today and
in the future.
Approach
The State Rail Plan builds on
the significant work already undertaken
in the New Jersey, including
the State Rail Freight Strategic
Plan and the Statewide Freight
Plan. The Plan will comply with
all PRIIA requirements.
The work being undertaken includes:
- Define and articulate
the elements in the State
Rail Plan.
- Fully integrate the
work previously undertaken
for the rail freight plan,
the state freight master plan,
and other relevant studies.
- Engage
our partners in rail service,
our agency partners and the
public in the development
of the plan.
- Complete a State
Rail Plan that will be a
blueprint on how to proceed
in New Jersey from both a rail
passenger and freight perspective.
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