(erielack) Lackawanna Cut-Off -- GOOD NEWS!

["Tupaczewski, Paul R (Paul)" <"paultup_@_lucent.com">]

Just got this morning's Daily Record (Morristown, NJ paper), and found this
cover story. I'll only type in the relevant points... Take note of the
discussion of dual-mode power in there, too!

	- Paul


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RAIL SERVICE WINS FEDERAL OK
$160M Lackawanna Cutoff clears key funding hurdle

<blah blah about what the cutoff is>

It was part of the transportation appropriations bill signed into law
Tuesday night, although a specific amount of money was not set aside for it.

Local officials said they will attempt to include the project in the state
transportation improvement plan for fiscal 2000 - if the state is in
compliance with the federal Clean Air Act by that time and a freeze imposed
on adding projects has been lifted. The rail project still would need annual
congressional approval for funds until its scheduled completion in 2003.

But officials said this was the first step toward turning a long-discussed
project into reality. "I'm ecstatic," Frank Reilly, director of the Morris
County DOT, said. "We anticipated getting it (the approval), but others
didn't."

The rail project had not been given much chance of winning approval, Reilly
said, because it wasn't part of the original appropriations bill. It was
added later by a joint committee of the House and Senate.

Morris County officials already are conducting an environmental study that
is expected to be completed by next summer.

<study showing highway traffic here>

Passenger rail service to Sussex County on the NYS&W line also was approved
by Congress in the bill that authorizes spending for transportation projects
over the next six years. But unlike the Lackawanna Cutoff, the Sussex County
project was expected to be part of the final bill, since it was included in
the House version before a joint committee hashed out the details.

<more fluff>

The new rail line would branch off from the Morris & Essex line at the Port
Morris station [my note: HUH?] in Roxbury. Another branch already goes to
Hackettstown with stops in Netcong and Mt. Olive. The new branch [BRANCH?!?]
would require 28 miles of track to be laid between Roxbury and the Delaware
Water Gap on land owned by the State - on a railbed where tracks were ripped
up more than a decade ago. It would be joined to track in Pennsylvania
already used for freight and passenger service.

It would stop in Andover, Blairstown and at the Delaware Water Gap, Reilly
said, and at several stations in Pennsylvania. The line probably would be
run by NJ Transit, Reilly said, but NJT officials said that has not been
determined.

Officials are looking into using special locomotives powered by both diesel
and electricity, Reilly said, so passengers can ride from Scranton into New
York's Penn Station without changing trains. Only electric trains can go
through the tunnel into New York, but electric power on the Morris & Essex
line does not extend west of Dover.

An NJT spokesman said no decision has been made on what kind of locomotives
will be used. He also said it's not clear whether the new rail line would go
directly into New York or be limited to Hoboken. Rush-hour MidTOWN Direct
trains are crowded, he said, so unless capacity is increased, it may be
difficult to handle additional passengers.


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