Bergen Arches Light Rail?

With some hungrily eyeing the Bergen Arches for more highway pavement, it's left to citizens' groups to question whether DOT has evaluated any other use for the ex-Erie Railroad right-of-way running through the Palisades cliffs in Jersey City.

On Thursday, July 30, a representative from the Hudson County chapter of the Sierra Club went on record, through the Jersey Journal, asking: why not light rail transit? Other inquiries to the same effect have been made to NJ-ARP. Since we are the light rail transit champions of New Jersey, it's only natural for us to respond: of course we're interested.

So far, NJ-ARP's research -- admittedly very preliminary -- shows that the Bergen Arches remain private property, specifically that of Conrail, Inc., and likely to be inherited by the joint-venture Conrail owned equally by Class 1 railroads CSX Corp. and Norfolk Southern Corp. And, NJ-ARP's Paul Mulligan reports, at least part of the Arches is still in use for freight railroad purposes.

Even were that not the case, it's quite possible that either CSX Corp. or Norfolk Southern, or both of those railroads, will seek to improve the Bergen Arches route to enhance access to potential customers.

For example, plans by the state for a deep-draft port operation at the Military Ocean Terminal in Bayonne (MOTBY), now in advanced talking stages, would almost certainly require improved rail access to serve the on-dock rail facilities at MOTBY.