Congressmen tout progress in NYC-Scranton rail service during visit to Andover site

ANDOVER − Two area congressmen, along with Amtrak officials, got a chance Monday to see the progress on bringing commuter rail service to southern Sussex County and within a few years, all the way to Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Rep. Josh Gottheimer, whose district crosses northern New Jersey from the Delaware to Hudson rivers, was joined by Matt Cartwright, whose Pennsylvania district includes the northeastern part of the state as far west as Scranton, at what will be the Andover station for NJ Transit on Roseville Road.

Building the station and bringing rail service to Andover is well underway. The rest of the route, which follows the Lackawanna Cutoff to the Delaware River where it picks up existing railroad tracks, is on track for final federal approval.

"After working across the aisle for years to return rail service to Northwestern New Jersey and calling for an end of delays with bureaucratic games, it’s great to see that inspections for potential Amtrak and NJ Transit stops and station sites are undergoing here in Sussex County,” said Gottheimer.

Currently, he said, “There are very limited options for folks in Sussex County to make their life easier and get on a train to get to work, or to see a family member."

The same is true for those in northeastern Pennsylvania, said Cartwright, who praised Gottheimer for being "the loudest voice" in getting the federal government to fund the expansion.

The first link is extension of NJ Transit service from Netcong with the branch that goes through Hopatcong and through the Roseville Tunnel to the station. As seen Monday, a portion of the woods has been cleared and the gravel railbed has been laid down. Work is underway to shorten the tunnel to meet federal standards. At its previous length, the tunnel would have required an expensive ventilation system.

By shortening the distance between portals by a couple of hundred feet, the ventilation system is no longer a requirement.

This first stage will see NJ Transit trains coming to Andover, providing a rail link to the system's stops in New Jersey as well as to Manhattan.

According to Gottheimer's office, every day there are 28,000 people traveling by car between northeast Pennsylvania and northern New Jersey to New York. Many others also travel to work in northeastern New Jersey with much of that traffic along Interstate 80.

The congressman said Sussex County workers have the longest average commute time of all New Jersey counties at 38 minutes, and Vernon Township is ranked as having the worst commutes in the state.

And, he noted, that commute time has increased by nearly 10% in the past dozen years.

Moring and evening commutes from northeast Pennsylvania are even longer as even a minor accident can create havoc on the highway.

Cartwright also noted that when passenger rail service is extended into Pennsylvania − still a few years away − it will open up tourism opportunities, revitalizing that business for the Pocono Mountains.

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Just the link to the Andover station will have almost immediate benefits to Sussex County tourism. There is a ski area in Vernon and the Mountain Creek resort also has golf courses.

There is also the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, a unit of the National Park Service, which straddles the Delaware River and includes parts of Warren and Sussex counties in New Jersey and Pike and Monroe counties in Pennsylvania.

This first link from Netcong to Andover involves only 8,000 feet of new track.

West of the Andover station, much of the route needs new roadbed and rails. But there are also two long, concrete viaduct − one over the Paulins Kill River near Hainesburg, and the other crossing the Delaware River near Columbia, where the cutoff joins currently active railroad lines.

NJ Transit's part of the project ends at the Andover station with Amtrak taking responsibility for restoring the cutoff and work in Pennsylvania.

"When this is done, and we get passenger service to Scranton, there's already good rail service from Scranton north," said Cartwright. "That opens up Binghamton and all of that part of New York."

According to Amtrak’s Corridor Vision plan, the expansion of service to Scranton will generate about $84 million in annual economic activity. That is ongoing activity. Building the link is projected to be a one-time, $2.9 billion cost.

This article originally appeared on New Jersey Herald: NJ Transit, Amtrak service update for NYC to Scranton line