Two Rail Issues

This report analyses the Regional Rail Reorganization Act of 1973, and the proposed Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) exten­sion Newark Airport connector

Northeast Railroad Reorganization

In January 1974, the Regional Rail Reorganization Act of 1973 became law, with potentially far-reaching effects on the New York Region. It foresees the restructuring of rail service in the Northeastern United States.

Having undermined the railroads by competitive highway construction, we now look at the rail system not as what it should be but, instead, how cheaply we can maintain this vestige of the past. Consequently, the DOT report is basically regressive. It does not ex­amine the future needs of this Region which is still growing and changing. Nor does it examine what level of improvement it would take to attract a greater share of truck traffic to rail, and it deals with passenger needs almost as a footnote. It does not measure the impact of the proposals on the Region’s economy, which is declining relative to the rest of the nation. We need regenerative, not degenerative solutions.

PATH Extension

Regional Plan Association cannot support the pro­posed Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) exten­sion Newark Airport connector, despite its positive aspects, unless at least two modifications are made to assure greater benefit to the public for what will be a major public investment. These modifications are:

1. The Newark Airport Connector must be tied in with Penn-Central service - both from Midtown Manhattan and from the south - at McClellan Street, Newark, to enable the maximum number of people to go by train to the airport.
2. Responsibility must be assumed by the State or assigned to the Port Authority for parking facilities at commuter stations to prevent localities from limiting parking and thus limiting PATH patronage.

This project developed over a number of years in a piecemeal way. First, the airport was designed (as a self-sufficient unit) without rail access, but with an internal ​“people-mover” to carry people among terminal buildings and parking facilities. The passage­way for the inter-terminal ​“shuttle” was designed to preclude either a PATH car or standard train from en­tering the terminals. The State of New Jersey during the Cahill administration pressed the Port Authority to extend PATH along the Plainfield Corridor to replace the ailing Jersey Central service. To provide some rail access, the ​“shuttle” was planned to extend about one mile to the airport’s periphery to intersect at McClellan Street with the extension of PATH from Newark. The result of this process of project develop­ment leaves the airport traveler with a far from ideal service involving a transfer with baggage between PATH and the inter-terminal ​“shuttle”. By contrast, if the project had been designed integrally from the start, direct no-transfer service to and from the airport terminals on PATH equipment would have been possible.