(The following article by Thomas Barlas was posted on the Press of Atlantic City website on June 16.)
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — NJ Transit could decide Monday whether to begin new rail service between Atlantic City and New York.
The proposal will be discussed by NJ Transit’s board of directors Monday. A vote on the plan is expected, NJ Transit spokeswoman Penny Bassett Hackett said.
NJ Transit officials declined further comment.
Karlis Povisils, director of policy research for the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, said the train would stop only at Newark during its run between New York and Atlantic City. The trip would take about 2½ hours, or the same time it takes a bus to run between Manhattan and Atlantic City, he said.
Should NJ Transit approve the run Monday, service would begin in the latter half of 2007, giving people who now must either drive or take a bus between the two cities an alternate method of travel, he said.
An attempt to connect New York City and Atlantic City with a direct train failed in the late 1980s. This time, Atlantic City’s casinos, faced with looming competition from Pennsylvania and New York, are apparently putting their weight behind the project. The train would run as a contract operation, with the casino industry guaranteeing operating costs and handling other services such as marketing, Povisils said.
NJ Transit Executive Director George Warrington said during a transportation conference in Atlantic City in April that NJ Transit was working out details with Amtrak for the use of a portion of Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor line between 30th Street Station in Philadelphia and Trenton.
NJ Transit already runs trains along the Northeast Corridor line between Trenton and Newark. It needs to use the portion of the Northeast Corridor line between 30th Street Station and Trenton so customers can ride one of its trains between Atlantic City and Newark without having to change trains in Philadelphia.
While Warrington wouldn’t discuss details of the plan, transportation officials said they involve whether NJ Transit’s proposed train service would cut in profits for cash-strapped Amtrak.
Should those details work out and NJ Transit get the passenger cars and engines it needs, the service could begin in about 18 months to two years, Warrington said during the April conference.
NJ Transit’s rail plan would essentially link the Atlantic City line — which runs between Atlantic City and Philadelphia — and the Northeast Corridor line.
NJ Transit said ridership on the Atlantic City line is growing faster than any of its other rail lines.