UTU News Digest - Friday, October 16, 1998

UTU Daily News Digest

Information of interest to operating railroad and transportation employees

Friday, October 16, 1998

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New train yard part of Montclair Connection project

LITTLE FALLS, NJ -- The township will become the home of a new train yard, as part of NJ Transit's Montclair Connection project that will allow residents and others along the Boonton Line to take trains directly into Manhattan.

The train yard, which will cost $13 million and be built east of the Great Notch station, will be used to store about 40 electric-powered rail cars, according to NJ Transit spokesman Steve Coleman.

"Since we are going to be running electric trains up to Great Notch, we needed a place to store those trains," Coleman said. "It will be built along the tracks in the area and shielded from nearby residents by a ridge."

As part of the $45 million Montclair Connection, NJ Transit will be electrifying the tracks along parts of the Boonton Line to provide direct service to Manhattan's Penn Station for passengers from, among other places, Little Falls, Wayne, and Lincoln Park.

The electrified track will link the Boonton Line to the Montclair Branch. Once the link is completed, riders will be able to connect to NJ Transit's Montclair Branch at the Bay Street station in Montclair. They will also be able to get off at Broad Street in Newark, continue to Hoboken, or head straight to New York's Penn Station without having to change trains.

Right now, diesel-powered trains are the only ones that run on the Boonton Line, which connects Hoboken, Great Notch, and Hackettstown.

"It will allow commuters in Great Notch or east of that to get a one-seat ride into Midtown, which they cannot do," Coleman said. "Currently, all people on the Boonton Line have to go to Hoboken."

The Montclair Connection has been planned since 1929, but it has been stalled at various times by lawsuits and by neighborhood protests in Montclair.

Coleman said NJ Transit will be put the train yard project out to bid before the end of the year and construction is expected to begin in the spring or summer of 1999. He said the entire project is expected to be up and running by the year 2000.

Coleman said trees and hills in the area would block sound from the trains, but said electric trains usually don't make much noise.

Rochester says DM&E line would cause problems

ROCHESTER, MN -- City officials here say a proposed rail expansion project by the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad would heighten the potential for problems at railroad crossings in the city.

Rochester does not appear in the "busiest 50" car-train intersections, but seven intersections would be listed if the expansion goes through. Olmsted County's Paul Wilson says those numbers confirm the negotiating position of local leaders. He says the city had to conduct the study because there wasn't any other source for them to rely on.

D-M-and-E officials say the rail project must be completed to enhance safety and to replace "rotting railroad ties".

Union Pacific asked to abandon rail spur

Coeur d'Alene - The Idaho Transportation Department wants the Union Pacific Railroad to abandon a rail spur that runs through Kootenai County.

Abandoning the spur would eliminate 22 railroad crossings on local roads. It would also save the Coeur d'Alene School District about $200,000 because it wouldn't have to help build an armed railroad crossing near Woodland Middle School, and save the Post Falls Highway District about $1 million on repairs it wouldn't have to make on a bridge over the railroad.

It also would send two trains each day -- four trips -- through Post Falls. That would include running more trains through a large subdivision called the Montrose development in the northwest corner of town. Two of the trips could be at night. The ITD voted to support a resolution Friday that encourages Union Pacific to abandon the spur.

Railroad sues Garden City

SAVANNAH -- The small community of Garden City is facing a lawsuit from CSX Transportation in connection with a train-truck crash in 1997.

CSX claims the city is liable because the truck was installing a pipeline right next to the tracks. CSX says the crash caused more than $75,000 damage to its locomotives, passengers and baggage cars.

UP shopping Las Vegas land

LAS VEGAS -- In an effort to sell some or all of its 200 acres just west of downtown Las Vegas, Union Pacific is shopping for land buyers.

The railroad invited a major national developer to visit the property this week and is hopeful that a 40-acre parcel might be purchased. Neither Union Pacific nor the city would reveal the name of the company, but officials say a commercial project is being considered. A previous plan to erect a 100,000-seat stadium on the site failed when its promoter fell into bankruptcy.