Hudson - Bergen Light Rail

[Fred W. Schneider III]

Spent yesterday renewing an acquaintanceship with Northern New Jersey...

In 1958, Dad took us on a Shrine Club excursion on the steam ship
Alexander Hamilton (probably the last of the old rocking beam creatures)
up the Hudson River from Exchange Place, Jersey City to West Point, New
York. The approach to Jersey City was by chartered train over the Pennsy
... right into Exchange Place.  I vividly recall walking down the
platform of a rather derelict station in its last years, and then along
the Jersey City waterfront for two blocks to the vessel.  Enroute we
passed the old trainshed above the Hudson and Manhattan subway station
that had once been used by Public Service Railway trolleys and at that
time by PSCT buses.

Yesterday I was surprised to find that there is a Jersey City ... a
rather vibrant office section around Exchange Place.  The Pennsylvania
Station has been gone for perhaps 40 years; it isn't even possible to
trace the right of way.  A brand new office building sits where the old
PSCT shed was.  And PATH, see H&M, has brightly lighted and relatively
new entrances.
And, right in the midst of all this on Greene Street, clean white and
black New Jersey Transit LRV's load for Bayonne.

TNJ's rail operation is operated by Siemans (and will be for ten years)
under a DBO or Design-Build-Operate contract.  The portion open now
extends southward from Exchange Place to Bayonne with a branch from
Liberty State Park westward to West Side Avenue.  The branch extends
into a low-income neighborhood which generates very little patronage (a
rush hour crowd is 7 people).  Standing loads are prevalent in the rush
hour on the mainline into middle class areas in southern Jersey City and
Bayonne.

North of Liberty State Park station, the line twists and turns through
vacant lots for no apparent reason, resulting in the same incredibly
slow ride remniscent of the downtown loop in Pittsburgh that PAT spent a
fortune to eradicate.  One can only wonder why TNJ and the state didn't
condemn a right of way in a relatively straight line instead of creating
six 15 mph curves (over 500 degrees of curvature) and lengthening the
crow's flight of 1.25 miles to the trolley line of 1.8 miles.  South of
Liberty State Park station on the mainline and west on the branch, the
TNJ uses the right-of-way of the Central Railroad of New Jersey's
mainline from Communipaw terminal (to Bayonne) and the railroad's Newark
Branch (to West Side Avenue).  The branch is absolutely straight as an
arrow but speeds are severely restricted by street crossings.  Fifty
miles per hour speeds on the mainline to Bayonne are common.

Remember when mirrors were mounted on streetcars so you could see people
getting off the rear?  And mirrors were used inside to see passengers
who wanted off?  London Undergrond and Baltimore's Central LRV use
platform mirrors so the operator can see the outside of a train.  TNJ
seems to have done it the expensive way, with four outside television
cameras, one on each corner of the car facing backward, and two
television screens in the cab for he motorman.  Yet there appeared to me
nothing to allow the operator to see the inside of his train.   The
appears to be a long-delay for a bonging bells and a recorded "Watch the
Closing Doors" message after the operator decides that no one else might
want off.  Of course, he cannot see anything inside unless he turns
around and looks backward!
The result are astounding long station dwell times ... 45 seconds to let
off one passenger!

So what do the curves and dwell times do to the line.  Cars running the
convoluted part of the line from Exchange Place to Liberty State Park
station average a fantastic 8 miles per hour (13 minutes in the
timetable for 1.8 miles, mostly through an area that generates almost no
business at all).  Cas average only 12 miles per hour on the
straight-as-a-die 2.05 miles from Liberty State Park down to 34th St.,
Bayonne.  I came away with the realization that I could drive a bus over
the northern part of the line in far less time than the LRVs require.

Fare collection is on the European honor system ... buy a ticket or a
dozen tickets, then put them in the cancellor to add a date/time stamp
before riding.  Validity period is 90 minutes.
We saw a large number of fare inspectors.  One told us they are only
issuing "oral warnings" now but that a record of the oral warning with
passenger I. D. goes in the computer file.  Next week they are supposed
to begin writing the $71 minimum tickets for fare evasion.  We were told
that they give oral warnings to the same people day after day ...
perhaps they will be the ones to get the $100-plus fines.  I asked what
will be done with those "have nots" who are on welfare, have no money to
pay the fine, and have nothing to loose.  I was told they will loose
their drivers license for non payment.  (I don't know about New Jersey,
but in Pennsylvania, driving on a suspended license is only a
misdemeanor.)

You say you want to visit the Hudson-Bergen line?  By train, get off
Amtrak or NJDOT trains at Newark, take PATH World Trade Center trains to
Exchange Place station.  By car, exit 14B from the New Jersey Turnpike
... Liberty State Park station with abundant free parking is only
several blocks away from the toll booths (right at exit). .

So much for the Hudson - Bergen first stage.  Looks nice.  Cars are
clean.  A lot of good photo spots (especially if one goes on a sunny day
instead of cold rain without coats ... it was sunny and 80 degrees here
and in Philly, and 50 with a 25 mph wind moving rain up there
yesterday).

Oh yes, we also went over to Newark to ride the CITY SUBWAY.  We saw one
of their new LRVs in the shop, rode the PCCs, and I think Rich and I
both concluded they were about to screw up that services as well.  With
PCCs, the doors close as soon as the last passenger hits the ground or
gets his hind foot on the car, and away they go.  Takes 12 minutes each
way for about 3.5 miles, or an average of 17.5 miles per hour ...
substantially better than even the fastest part of Hudson-Bergen.  While
the PCC cars do accelerate faster than the LRVs, and the top speeds
happen to be faster, I believe the most important factor in the City
Subway's high speed are the short station dwell times.  We came away
wondering if they ever used all 30 of the PCCs from Minneapolis ...
yesterday they were running a 2 minute rush hour headway with 12 cars.

Oh yes ... if you're ever in Newark, treat yourself to dinner in the
Ironbound section of the city ... little Portugal.  Rich and I had two
appetizers, two soups, two supurb dinners, a bottle of imported wine,
absolutely great rolls, attentive service, white table cloths, cloth
napkins, and and all for $25 each including a 20 percent tip in Casa
Vasca (141 Elm Street), a Spanish restaurant.  The area is absolutely
bursting with Portuguese restaurants, mostly on Ferry and Elm Streets.