A lot has changed over the years. I'm wondering how many PA commuters travel to Hackettstown to board trains. That's closer than Netcong. Commuter rail is an expensive operation. It would be nice to see of some kind of agreement could be made with NS to subsidize the rail operation with the establishment of some sort of intermodal or bulk transfer facility somewhere between Port Morris and Dover. The DL&W electric line could cover its operating expenses well into the 60s because there was no competition with any limited access roadways. I don't see more than four or five roundtrips running on the cut-off. Reconstruction the line is a tremendous expense in a time when New Jersey is running record state deficits. Politicians will talk about this holding out a "carrot in front of the horse" promise and probably not immediately moving on it. The big issue goes back to 1984. Why did New Jersey politicians permit the track to be removed? That was the biggest mistake and it is a tremendous obstacle to overcome - rebuilding the line. Buses, even the Parlor Car type buses, are far cheaper to operate. I have always wondered how Erie arrived at Port Jervis being the end of what I would call "extended commuter service". That was a long time ago when there were far fewer people living between Port Jervis and Suffern. On another note, I never lived in a location where I had to travel great distances for work. Out in Ohio, my commute was about 18 miles, but there was never any backups. Since moving to Virginia, I have never traveled more than seven miles to work. At times I could bike there. For the past 17 years, my trip has been 2.5 miles. I made the decision to not consider other locations until retirement hits. When I was in high school and college I thought the EL commuter had it all, riding the train everyday. I thought the old Boonton coaches with rattan seats were great. I admit, I probably was weird. I probably would have had another opinion if I used them five days a week. In my opinion, anybody who lives in Pennsylvania, and works, say in Parsippany is nuts. His employer should be offering flex time to avoid the rush hours. Ed Montgomery The Erie Lackawanna Mailing List http://EL-List.railfan.net/ To Unsubscribe: http://Lists.Railfan.net/erielackunsub.html ------------------------------
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