Plan for Commuter Rail Along Route 23 Corridor Eyed

A new commuter rail service could offer Wayne residents an alternative means of getting to work.

The Morris County Freeholders Wednesday called for a study to restore commuter rail service along the Route 23 corridor in Passaic, Morris and Sussex counties.

Morris County Freeholder Gene Feyl, first vice-president of the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority (NJTPA), said a study will examine possibilities for adding rail transit service along the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railroad line that parallels Route 23 from Bergen to Sussex counties.

The NJTPA oversees transportation planning in a 13-county region of New Jersey, including Passaic. The NJTPA will pay for the study.

“We need to see if there is a qualified need for transit,” Feyl said.

The NJTPA projects that the number of people living along the Route 23 corridor will steadily increase in the next 25 years.

A citizen group calling for the restoration of a commuter rail line along the corridor has posted a Facebook page seeking support for new service.

NJ Transit has a park and ride transit station on Route 23 south. Rail service to Newark and Hoboken and bus service Manhattan and surrounding municipalities is provided out of the $51-million facility. 

In related news, NJ Transit is developing plans for improved rail service on a new NYS&W rail line east of Route 80.

NJ Transit in 2009 reached an agreement to construct and operate the Passaic-Bergen line using the NYS&W Main Line right-of-way between Hawthorne and Hackensack to serve nine new stations.

Is the potential new service a good idea? Would you use it if it becomes available? Let us know in the comments section below.