[Date Prev][Date Next] [Chronological] [Thread] [Top]

(erielack) Great Notch Today



Some news of possible interest -- Jim Guthrie ELSH #1296

      Great Notch ridersget wish: more trains

      Wednesday, April 1, 2009

      BY JENNIFER H. CUNNINGHAM

      Herald News

      STAFF WRITER

      LITTLE FALLS - Spurred by residents' complaints, train service will 
increase at the Great Notch Station, NJ Transit officials announced.

      Beginning April 19, transit officials will add two morning stops to 
and two evening stops from Hoboken as part of a one-year trial, NJ Transit 
Executive Director Richard Sarles said Monday.

      The morning trains will stop at Great Notch at 5:46 a.m. and 7:19 
a.m., arriving in Hoboken at 6:33 a.m. and 7:59 a.m., respectively. A third 
train will continue to serve the station at 8:15 a.m., arriving in Hoboken 
at 9:03 a.m.

      In the evening, additional outbound trains will stop at the station at 
4:18 p.m. and 7:41 p.m., after departing Hoboken at 3:34 p.m. and 6:51 p.m., 
respectively. Two other trains will continue to serve Great Notch at 5:52 
p.m. and 6:23 p.m.

      NJ Transit officials have contended that ridership was "anemic" at the 
station and proposed closing it for good. In 2007, an average of 67 
passengers used the station each day, while 488 people daily used the nearby 
Montclair State University station, according to an NJ Transit spokesman. 
Now, NJ Transit officials hope to build ridership to an average of 75 
weekday riders by the end of six months, and 100 over the year of the trial.

      Passengers who use the station to commute to New York City have 
complained that fewer people were riding the trains because of cuts in 
service. Trains scheduled to stop at the station had been reduced twice in 
the last three years. Since the most recent cut in January, 2008, one train 
makes a stop in the morning and two during the afternoon rush.

      Local officials who advocated for more service at the station lauded 
the service increase.

      "I am pleased that NJ Transit has responded positively to our requests 
and is giving Little Falls another chance to prove Great Notch Station's 
value in the community," Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., D-Paterson, , said in a 
statement.

      Assemblyman Scott Rumana said he'd heard from many constituents about 
station service cuts and was pleased with the compromise. Rumana, along with 
Little Falls Mayor Michael DeFrancisci, urged residents to use the 
additional train service.

      "I'm very pleased that NJ Transit has given our community the 
opportunity to demonstrate the continued need for the station," DeFrancisci 
said. "It will now be up to the community to commit to using this expanded 
service."














      Find this article at:
      http://www.northjersey.com/news/transportation/42245092.html





	The Erie Lackawanna Mailing List
	http://EL-List.railfan.net/
	To Unsubscribe: http://Lists.Railfan.net/erielackunsub.html

------------------------------