(erielack) NYTimes: Yearlong Tunnel Repairs to Disrupt Trains Through Hoboken

["Gary R. Kazin" <gkazin_@_yahoo.com>]

Yearlong Tunnel Repairs to Disrupt Trains Through Hoboken
By ROBERT HANLEY

HOBOKEN, N.J., May 10 — One of the two aged railroad tunnels leading
to New Jersey Transit's train station here will be shut down next
month for 15 months of major renovations, forcing thousands of
passengers to adjust their weekday commute.

 Loss of the tunnel's two tracks, starting June 24, will affect
about 170 of the 280 trains that carry some 48,000 commuters from
the waterfront terminal and back each weekday, New Jersey Transit
officials said. Of the 170, 7 weekday trains will be canceled and 4
will start or end their runs in Newark. The timetables of 24 trains
will be altered by 5 to 18 minutes, and the other 135 will have
changes of under 5 minutes.

 Years of leaks in the 4,400-foot- long tunnel, which was built in
1877, have left its ceiling and walls in a state of "rather radical
decomposition," New Jersey Transit's executive director, Jeffrey A.
Warsh, said during a news conference at the station today.

 He said the dripping water sometimes caused short circuits in
overhead wires, disrupting service. In winter, icicles sometimes
break away from the ceiling and walls, falling onto the tracks and,
on occasion, a train.

 Although officials said no passengers had been hurt by falling ice
or debris, Mr. Warsh said the renovation would improve safety and
make train service more reliable in this time of increased
ridership. Many of the agency's trains are operating at 120 percent
to 130 percent of capacity, he said.

 The reconstruction will cost $64 million and include installation
of a waterproof lining and a new concrete facade on the walls and
ceiling, as well as new exits, signals, lighting and ventilation.

 In addition, the track bed will be lowered to provide clearance
for 200 new double-decker trains Mr. Warsh said the agency hoped to
start using in 2004. The work will take place around the clock on
weekdays and is expected to be completed in the fall of 2002, he
said.

 Until then, all trains entering and leaving the Hoboken station
will use the two tracks of an adjacent tunnel, built in 1908. That
tunnel is also to be renovated, but a date has not been set,
officials said.

 Five of the seven canceled trains operate on the Gladstone and
Morristown branches of the Morris and Essex Line; the two others
are on the Boonton Line. Additional cars will be added to other
trains to accommodate passengers, officials said.

 In addition, two weekday trains on the North Jersey Coast Line
that operated between Bay Head and Hoboken, with a stop at Newark's
Pennsylvania Station, will now travel just between Bay Head and the
Newark station, which is linked to Hoboken's station by PATH
trains. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/11/nyregion/11TUNN.html?ex=990582443&ei=1&en=c0781e5a06c6c099


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Gary R. Kazin
DL&W Milepost R35.7
Rockaway, New Jersey

New Jersey Transit - THE WAY TO GO!!!

(I have no affiliation with New Jersey Transit.)

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