(The following article by Joe Malinconico was posted on the Newark Star-Ledger website on October 25.)
NEWARK, N.J. — NJ Transit will begin running light rail trains to its new Port Imperial Station in Weehawken this Saturday, officials said yesterday.
But the agency will not start regular weekday service to that stop or to its new stations at Bergenline Avenue in Union City and Tonnelle Avenue in North Bergen until January.
Those stations will complete the first two phases of the light rail line, a $2.2 billion project that winds its way for 19.1 miles through the state’s most densely populated county.
Officials want to expand the line, with an extra station at 5th Street in Bayonne and a link to the Meadowlands complex, but the state has not yet set aside the money for the extra work.
The line now handles about 24,000 daily passenger trips, or the equivalent of 12,000 round-trip riders. Transit officials expect the stations at Bergenline and Tonnelle avenues to become two of the busiest, boosting ridership to 33,000 trips within a year.
The agency still calls the system the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail, even though it has scrapped its original plans to run deep into Bergen County. Right now, the whole system is within Hudson County, and the Meadowlands station represents the only plan for stretching into Bergen.
Weekend service at Port Imperial will run every 15 minutes from 6 a.m. until 1 a.m., officials said. The one-way adult fare is $1.75.
“I am pleased that NJ Transit was able to deliver weekend service at Port Imperial in advance of the holiday season,” Weehawken Mayor Richard Turner said in a statement. “We are giving residents a safe, reliable and comfortable transportation option that connects them with the rest of the county, as well as trans-Hudson trains and ferries.”