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The Northern Branch of the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail would extend service into eastern Bergen County
Senate President Steve Sweeney and Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg met with a group of Bergen County mayors on Wednesday in a session that focused on the importance of completing the Northern Branch of the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail to extend much-needed transportation service into eastern Bergen County. Senator Weinberg organized the meeting with Senator Sweeney and mayors in the 37th Legislative District.
The Northern Branch Corridor is a planned extension of the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail(HBLR) from its northern terminus into eastern Bergen County, New Jersey initially proposed in 2001. While many studies have been conducted as of May 2013 construction funding for the New Jersey Transit (NJT) line has not been identified. If built, the new service would use the right-of-way of the Northern Branch on which the Erie Lackawanna Railroad ran passenger service until October 3, 1966[1][2] and is currently a lightly used, stub-ended freight rail line owned by CSX Transportation. The Northern Branch Corridor is at the foot of the west side of the Hudson Palisades in the Hackensack River valley, running for much of its length parallel to Overpeck Creek. After mixed reactions and extensive community input to a draft environmental impact statement, it was decided in 2013 to terminate the line at the Englewood Hospital and Medical Center
A disproportionately low 17 percent of total Bergen County commuters use rail service, as compared to 60 percent in Union County and nearly 50 percent in Morris, Middlesex and Essex counties.
Towns that would directly benefit from the expansion of the rail include the communities in which stops would be added and adjacent communities: Bergenfield, Bogota, Cliffside Park, Cresskill, Demarest, Dumont, Englewood Cliffs, Ridgefield Park, Teaneck and Tenafly. The combined population of these towns is just under 300,000. The entire region would benefit indirectly.
The total cost of the light rail project is estimated at $1 billion, with $800 million for the hard costs and $200 million for the purchase of CSX right-of-way. The federal government would provide a 50% – 50% match, meaning New Jersey needs to have $500 million set aside.
“We are very excited about the potential of the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail Line,” said Englewood Mayor Frank Huttle, III. “This will not only be a significant benefit for Englewood, but for Bergen County and the State of New Jersey. It’s about quality of life, jobs and upgrading a 100-year-old transportation system.”