RE: Lackawanna Cut-Off -- GOOD NEWS!

[Seth Taylor <"staylor_@_whpost.wh.lucent.com">]

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This was all due to the HR 2400 Transportation  Bill that I posted info
about to  the list about 2 weeks ago. Now that HR 2400 is signed,  the
restoration of the Lackawanna Cutoff is on course, as is a lot of other
mass transit projects including double tracking Tri-Rail/CSX in FL from
WPB to Miami (due 1999). The next major steps in Cutoff restoration are:

1. Finish the LS Transit System MIS (Major Investment Study)which is in
progress.  Due in 1999.

2. Need Finding of No Significant  Environmental Impact Statement (aka
"FONSE", pronounced  "FONZI") as issued by Federal EPA (maybe in 2000).
This can be expedited with some political pressure from transportation
friendly politicians.This is where letter writing and a little push in
the right place can help.

3. MCDOT (Frank Reilly) has to complete a project plan/tentative design
and request Federal Funding from Federal DOT under HR2400.This can't be
filed until the "FONSE"  is issued.

4. 2001 Go out for bids  and award contract.

5. 2003. Buy a ticket at Scranton Station for NYP.

Seth T.

Start Construction

Seth


>----------
>From:  Tupaczewski, Paul R (Paul)[SMTP:"paultup_@_lucent.com"]
>Sent:  Thursday, June 11, 1998 9:30 AM
>To:    '"erielack_@_internexus.net"'
>Cc:    Seth Taylor
>Subject:       Lackawanna Cut-Off -- GOOD NEWS!
>
>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
>
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>--
>
>
>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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