The Passaic-Bergen Passenger Rail Project is a project by New Jersey Transit to reintroduce passenger service on a portion of the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway right-of-way in Passaic and Bergen counties. Plans call for service to run from Hawthorne south to Paterson, then east to Hackensack using newly built, FRA-compliant diesel multiple unitrail cars. Calls for restoration of service began in the early 2000s.When announced in the mid-2000s NJT stated construction could begin in early 2009 and last approximately 3 years and estimated the cost of the project to be $156 million. In a memorandum of understanding NJT agreed to pay NYSW more than $20 million for a 75-year easement for trackage rights on its freight line. In October 2015, U.S. Congressman Bill Pascrell joined state legislators in creating a coalition to revive the project, and in January 2016, the local governments of the involved municipalities passed concurrent resolutions to restart the project. In August 2017 NJT released an RFP to examine current conditions on the line and needs of communities it would serve. The new study called the Passaic–Bergen–Hudson Transit Project, expected to have been completed in 2019, and will also review the possibility of connecting to the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail.
NJ Midland and NYS&W
The ROW was originally developed by the New Jersey Midland Railway in 1872. The NYS&W ran passenger service until June 30, 1966. The line terminated at Pavonia Terminal in Jersey City until 1961, and until 1966 at Susquehanna Transfer in North Bergen, which had opened on August 1, 1939 to allow transfer to buses through the Lincoln Tunnel. NYSW freight operations terminate at the Landbridge Terminal south of the North Bergen Yard near Secaucus Road. While outside of the scope of the project the railroad and the city of Hackensack replaced a rail trestle to the east of the proposed terminus with a contingency for a future additional track and passenger platform.
Route
The line would run for approximate 8.3 miles in a generally east-west alignment, creating a cross-county corridor running between Hawthorne, where transfer to the Main Line would be available, and Hackensack, about two blocks from the Hackensack Bus Terminal. There would be five stations in Paterson, one station in Elmwood Park, New Jersey, and an additional station in Hackensack. It would also cross Saddle Brook, Rochelle Park and Maywood, but would not have any station stops in them.
