# Weekday Secaucus Service Starts Dec 15th



## AlanB (Nov 13, 2003)

> Weekday rail service will start moving through New Jersey Transit's new $450 million transfer station in Secaucus on Dec. 15, according to an agency official.
> The opening date announced Wednesday is linked to the planned Nov. 23 opening of a replacement PATH station at the former World Trade Center site. Officials say that station must be completed before the weekday service begins, or Northeast Corridor trains going to and from New York's Penn Station probably would be too crowded.



The full story from 1010 WINS News.


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## AlanB (Nov 13, 2003)

> NJ Transit officials said yesterday that Secaucus Junction, the $609 million station that will provide connections among the agency's main rail lines, will start full service Dec. 15. The station has been operating on weekends since early September.
> The main beneficiaries of the station will be commuters from Bergen and Passaic counties, who will be able to make a simple transfer in Secaucus from trains on the Bergen, Main and Pascack Valley lines to New York-bound trains. Those folks now have to ride into Hoboken Terminal and switch to PATH trains, a trip that officials say takes about 15 minutes longer.



Still another story on the opening, this one from the Newark Star Ledger.

One interesting note is the vast differences in the costs listed by the two articles. The first story lists the price tag at $450 million, while the one above claims $609 million. Somebody didn't check their facts very well.


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## Viewliner (Nov 13, 2003)

If only they could add weekend service on certain lines.


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## Amtrak Railfan (Nov 13, 2003)

How many Passagers use the Secaucus Station on the Weekends?


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## AlanB (Nov 13, 2003)

Viewliner said:


> If only they could add weekend service on certain lines.


Well once track improvements are completed on the Pascack Valley line, which coupled with Secaucus may well motivate NJT to institute weekend service on that line.

As for the Montclair-Boonton line, I suspect that weekend service is still a few years off. One of two things must happen before weekend service can start. Either NJT must wait until the current agreement that prohibits weekend trains expires or the other communities that line serves must organize and pressure the politicians and NJT to override the agreement forced upon NJT by the Nimby's of Upper Montclair.


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## battalion51 (Nov 13, 2003)

AlanB said:


> Weekday rail service will start moving through New Jersey Transit's new $450 million transfer station in Secaucus on Dec. 15, according to an agency official.


Well let's see for that much we could fully finance a Marlins new baseball stadium, and kick the other $100 mil to Amtrak to help get some more cars back in service. :lol:


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## AlanB (Nov 13, 2003)

battalion51 said:


> AlanB said:
> 
> 
> > Weekday rail service will start moving through New Jersey Transit's new $450 million transfer station in Secaucus on Dec. 15, according to an agency official.
> ...


Well first off take note that the other story claims that it cost $609 Million.

However for either amount, we could have started construction on a new Hudson River tunnel. A new tunnel would have eliminated the need to transfer in the first place, as there would now be enough capacity to run those Bergen/Main Line trains right into Penn Station.


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## battalion51 (Nov 13, 2003)

I personally feel like they should install Third Rail electric on the Hudson side, and be able to carry AC-DM's from Philly to NYP on Long Distance trains, also making them able to carry RoadRailers and express into the Big Apple.


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## Amtrak Railfan (Nov 13, 2003)

I think is a good thing to do that I think.


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## AlanB (Nov 13, 2003)

battalion51 said:


> I personally feel like they should install Third Rail electric on the Hudson side, and be able to carry AC-DM's from Philly to NYP on Long Distance trains, also making them able to carry RoadRailers and express into the Big Apple.


To my knowledge, the only reason that there is no express/RR service into Penn is the fact that there is no place at Sunnyside to unload them. The HHP-8's can still haul Express and RR's or Amtrak could bring back a few E60's to help out also.

As for third rail, that's not really needed, not to mention that Amtrak doesn't have enough P32 AC-DM's to use in that area. The simple answer is for NJT to buy diesel loco's with pantographs, or if they rather not do that then they could just electrify the Bergen lines.


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## battalion51 (Nov 13, 2003)

AlanB said:


> The HHP-8's can still haul Express and RR's or Amtrak could bring back a few E60's to help out also.


Sadly, this is not true Alan. The Hippos and E-60's are not set up to work with freight. While in theory it could be done, they do not have the technology to read EOTs, and important thing when working with freight. The Genesis series though, can read EOTs, thus mking the AC-DM a logical choice if the service were to begin.


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## AlanB (Nov 13, 2003)

Well first off, since Sunnyside can't handle road railers there is no reason to worry about this service. Especially since Amtrak is also eliminating Express Trak anyhow.

However in the past I've seen both HHP's and E60's hauling boxes on the rear with FRED on the back. To my knowledge only the AEM7's are incapable of hauling those types of cars. That's one of the reasons that up until recently Amtrak typically ran the E60's between NY & Philly on the Silver service trains. The AEM7's couldn't handle the freight on the rear, but the E60's could. So to cut down on the wear and tear of the E60's that's why the engine changes started happening in Philly instead of DC.


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## battalion51 (Nov 13, 2003)

Well in that case bust my legs and call me Shorty, because I've been lied to. :lol:


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## Amfleet (Nov 13, 2003)

My guess is that Amtrak could have hauled M&E into Penn, but didn't because of an already overcorwded situation. With NJ Transit, LIRR, plus the dozens of Amtrak departures there was no room to put a string of RoadRailers. Also, Express Box cars probably wouldn't meet clearance restrictions in the tunnels going into and out of Penn anyhow.


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## AlanB (Nov 13, 2003)

battalion51 said:


> Well in that case bust my legs and call me Shorty, because I've been lied to. :lol:


Well I don't know that we need to break your legs. :lol: 

But like I mentioned, it's all academic now, since David has by and large eliminated all Express Trak freight service. I think that by April or May of 2004, with the exception of the refigerated Washington State fruit service that Amtrak can't break the contract with, all RR's and box cars will be history.


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## battalion51 (Nov 13, 2003)

It's a shame really. The mail made money, but what do we do, kiss it good by, and ruin any chance of ever carrying it again.


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## Amfleet (Nov 13, 2003)

battalion51 said:


> It's a shame really. The mail made money, but what do we do, kiss it good by, and ruin any chance of ever carrying it again.


Hold up. No one said anything about getting rid of mail. I thought Gunn planned to keep it. Also if I remember correctly only Express Box cars abd Express business was going, but the RoadRailers only reduced to the amount needed to carry shipments by the USPS.


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## AlanB (Nov 13, 2003)

Well from what I've heard, Amtrak has not eliminated mail service as it does make money. Only Express Trak is being eliminated.

However the USPS has been reducing the amount of mail that Amtrak carries. Some people are starting to wonder just how long the USPS might keep handing the mail off to Amtrak.


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## battalion51 (Nov 14, 2003)

There has been a significant drop off. I remember about a year ago the Conductor counted 19 bogies that we set off at Orlando on 97. The most I've seen in recent weeks is half a dozen. If they could just tack Express Cars on to the bottom at WAS we can still handle the same volume of mail that we did a year ago. The only change you may want to make is to take off the ExpressTrak logos, and replace it with mail.


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## AlanB (Nov 14, 2003)

battalion51 said:


> There has been a significant drop off. I remember about a year ago the Conductor counted 19 bogies that we set off at Orlando on 97. The most I've seen in recent weeks is half a dozen. If they could just tack Express Cars on to the bottom at WAS we can still handle the same volume of mail that we did a year ago. The only change you may want to make is to take off the ExpressTrak logos, and replace it with mail.


Well Amtrak would just be tacking empty cars on the rear at Washington.

The problem isn't Amtrak's inability or lack of equipment to carry the mail, the USPS is simply not giving Amtrak as much business as they used to.


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