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The Greater Atlantic City Chamber would like to thank the following sponsors:
Railway Expansion Plan Would Create Link with AC International Airport
AC Press
By Tom Barlas
May 13, 2009
Plan backers say it would give southern New Jersey some of the extra rail service it needs, provide easier access to the airport, and allow airport operators, who are already adding new air service next month, more opportunities to develop the Egg Harbor Township-based facility.
“We are moving forward as to how we are going to develop this,” said Sharon Gordon, spokeswoman for the South Jersey Transportation Authority, or SJTA, which operates the airport.
“If you’re going to do it, do it right,” said John Matheussen, executive director of the Delaware River Port Authority, or DRPA.
DRPA operates the PATCO High Speed Line between Philadelphia and Lindenwold, Camden County. The plan would also create a new transfer station between the High Speed Line and the Atlantic City Line at PATCO’s Woodcrest Station in Cherry Hill, Camden County. Commuters can already transfer between the two lines at Lindenwold, but DRPA officials said Woodcrest’s location near Route 295 makes its more accessible to many travelers.
Plans also include adding a second track along a single-tracked section of the Atlantic City Line, primarily between Atlantic City International and Lindenwold. That would allow for more trains to make the run between Atlantic City and Philadelphia.
DRPA and NJ Transit must still figure out how to operate the new system, officials said.
However, Matheussen said the plans have the full support of Gov. Jon S. Corzine, and that all aspects of the proposal could be done in years, not decades.
“We’re looking at that in a very short time frame,” Gordon said.
The proposals are scheduled to be discussed today when the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority releases the findings of a major report on transportation and work force housing for the area. Corzine and other state officials are scheduled to attend the event at Atlantic City Convention Center.
With less than 100 miles of active heavy, light and commuter rail lines, rail service is limited for several southern New Jersey counties, and nonexistent in the rest. That is not the case in northern New Jersey, where at least seven rail lines whisk travelers across that part of the state on almost 600 miles of track.
However, a series of new projects will give southern New Jersey travelers better rail access.
On Tuesday, officials announced plans for a new commuter train route through a fast-growing swath of suburban Philadelphia.
DRPA officials said the line will run from Camden to Glassboro, making stops in several towns. Among them would be old communities such as Woodbury, Pitman and a station on or near the campus of Rowan University in Glassboro.
The line is to be built on existing rail right of way and is expected to cost around $1.3 billion. It could later be extended to Millville.
The Atlantic City Line is scheduled to get another station in the next few years.
Some $40 million worth of federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds will finance a station in Pennsauken, Camden County, to link the Atlantic City Line with the River Line, a light rail line that runs between Camden and Trenton.
SJTA and NJ Transit are already discussing a Atlantic City Line station near the Federal Aviation Administration’s William J. Hughes Technical Center.
The center would also serve Atlantic City International and involve a rail station and parking lot at a cost of about $2.5 million. The facility would be built on land that is currently privately owned, adding some land acquisition costs.
It is not clear how the direct airport-rail link would affect this proposal.
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