New Jersey Transit maps a still bigger role for rail - New Jersey Transit Corp

Railway Age, Oct, 1999 by Luczak, Marybeth

Light rail stretching toward the Manhattan skyline is just one of several rail expansion projects now under way.

Threading a seamless rail network through every community has been the State of New Jersey's goal since the early 19th Century when it issued the nation's first charter for the construction and operation of a steam railroad. While that line never materialized, New Jersey was on its way to becoming home to many North American railroading firsts. In 1825, inventor and rail promoter Col. John Stevens of Hoboken built America's first steam locomotive. New Jersey's Camden and Amboy ran one of the earliest locomotives equipped with a bell and cowcatcher, installed the world's first T-rails, pioneered the hook-headed spike and the predecessor to the modern rail joint, and was the site of North America's first head-on collision in 1836.

Today, New Jersey Transit is continuing the state's game-plan to connect the dots between central business districts and suburban downtowns by rail. Ridership on the agency's lines is expected to swell from the present 94,000 daily passengers to 128,500 by 2005. This anticipated growth has driven recent recommendations for $1 billion-plus in rolling stock orders and $266 million in new yards and maintenance shops, says Chief Operating Officer Stanley Rosenblum (details, p. 8). More important, it is accelerating expansion projects throughout NJ Transit's 5,325-square-mile service area.

HUDSON-BERGEN LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT

In March 2000, NJ Transit will unveil the first leg of its planned 20.5-mile, 36-station Hudson-Bergen Light Rail Transit System (pictured at right). NJ Transit awarded the $1.1 billion DBOM (design, build, operate, maintain) "super turnkey" contract to 21st Century Rail Corp. in 1996. Phase I, a 6.5-mile segment, will run from a southern terminal in Bayonne, N.J., and extend north through Jersey Ciry. Construction and installation of track, catenary, and signal systems will be complete by November, says Dan Censullo, senior director-new rail construction. All 29 Kinki Sharyo USA articulated, 70% low-floor vehicles will be ready in March.

Phase II of the project will run from Hoboken to North Bergen. It will include a stop at a ferry terminal under construction in Weehawken and serve a major development complex there. NJ Transit recently amended its DBOM contract for this phase, providing $7 million for final design and engineering, and authorizing $1.2 million for professional work by Parsons Brinckerhoff, Quade & Douglas. It also allocated $3.1 million for property acquisition and easements. Work will begin later this fall, with an expected completion date of year-end 2004.

NEWARK CITY SUBWAY

Another part of the Hudson-Bergen DBOM contract is a separately-funded modernization of NJ Transit's existing 4.2-mile Newark City Subway. Among the project's components: a one mile extension to a new vehicle maintenance facility in Bloomfield, installation of fiber-optic communications, and track improvements. Sixteen light rail vehicles identical to the Hudson-Bergen cars will replace the original, 45-year-old PCC car fleet.

Recently, a two-week shutdown allowed NJ Transit to convert existing trolley wire to a carenary system. Already, four new electrical substations have been erected, and 130 catenary poles and foundations to support the new catenary system have been installed. Harmon Industries is replacing the existing wayside signal system with an audio-frequency-based cab signal system. SYSTRA Consulting is providing engineering services. Completion is estimated for mid-year 2000.

SOUTHERN NEW JERSEY LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT

NJ Transit expects to have a notice to proceed by year-end for the initial segment of the 53-mile, 30-station Southern New Jersey Light Rail Transit System. Under a $604.5 million DBOM contract, Southern New Jersey Rail Group--a consortium of Bechtel Infrastructure Corp., Adtranz, Parsons Brinckerhoff, and Conti Enterprises--will begin the project in a 34-mile corridor between Trenton at the Amtrak/NJ Transit Northeast Corridor (NEC) station, and Camden. Trenton and Camden will be connected via right-of-way shared with Conrail (Shared Assets) LLC, which NJ Transit purchased on June 1 for $67.5 million. A letter of intent with Conrail calls for time-separated operation. Passenger trains will run from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week, and freight will operate during the remaining eight hours, six days a week. Because they will operate on a mixed-traffic line, the 20 Adtranz-supplied, multiple-unit, diesel-electric LRVs are designed with crash energy management features (RA, Feb., p. G1).

The system will be signaled with Automatic Train Stop (ATS) for light rail vehicles at every signal. While freight locomotives will not be equipped with ATS, positive separation will be assured with interlocked derails at every point where trains can move from freight-only to shared track. Similarly, NJ Transit expects to cover its entire rail network with Positive Train Stop and Automatic Train Control by 2002 (RA, May, p. 29).