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North Shore Rail Discussion


checkmatechamp13

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As that I read the North Shore Alternatives Analysis (NSAA), I have a bone to pick with the service planners.

 

At the public hearing for the proposed X21 on May 14, North Shore came in full force declaring their hatred for the X21.  They claimed, to paraphrase, that if South Shore residents could have their cake and eat it too, so should the North Shore.  What they really want are more and better travel options for the North Shore, and they're 100% correct.

 

Based on their comments, I can easily interpret that they want the SIR North Shore line reactivated AND for the S40 bus route be mainained at all costs, as that local and short-trip riders should continue to be accomodated by the system.  And they're right.  S90 service should still be discontinued, but the S40 should simply have its service reduced so that only one bus meets each ferry.

 

I prefer the LRT option to West Shore Plaza, because if it's only going to Arlington the S48/98 would have multiple branches, confusing the average rider.

 

Unforunately, the Appendices are not available online.  I would love to see them.  Hope the MTA puts them up in the near future.

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  • 9 months later...

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The North Shore Line should have never been discontinued in the 1950's in the first place!

Most of the right-of-way is still basically intact.  The line would need to be upgraded, especially the overpasses. I'm surprisedthat this line still lies dormant.  Staten Island is the most underserved boro, and could really benefit from a reactivated North Shore Line.  I'd extend it to Bayonne, NJ, connecting with the Hudson-Bergen light rail.  

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The North Shore Line should have never been discontinued in the 1950's in the first place!

Most of the right-of-way is still basically intact.  The line would need to be upgraded, especially the overpasses. I'm surprisedthat this line still lies dormant.  Staten Island is the most underserved boro, and could really benefit from a reactivated North Shore Line.  I'd extend it to Bayonne, NJ, connecting with the Hudson-Bergen light rail.  

The reason why they downed it in the first place was because buses, cars, and trucks were seen as more efficient back then. Around that time is when the highway system was being built out. No one at the time foresaw the traffic and the runaway development that would come from the Verrazano, and only Robert Moses' (Moses the Steamroller as I call him) road projects were being built.

 

I never saw bringing the HBLR to the North Shore line as feasible anyway. The Bayonne Bridge is just too high over it, and will only get higher. The only alternative would be to use the Expressway median. I don't know if they will be building the new Bayonne Bridge deck to the same specs as the old one, but they'd might as well put wide lanes on it because we won't be seeing rapid transit of any kind on it in the near future.

 

One thing that always got me; why weren't the West Shore line and the North Shore line ever considered to be combined into two parts of the same project? If the WS is adamant about getting a light rail, they should know that mixed-use ROW between light rail and buses exists in the Seattle transit tunnel. I think they have something like 10-minute headways between the trains and the buses there, which would be more than feasible with SI headways. It could possibly save money, time, and administrative headaches by combining the projects.

 

All of this is a pipedream, however. Despite the likely benefit to the area, the (MTA) is too backed up to even consider it, and forget getting through to les incompeténts at the head of the Port Authority either. The fact of the matter is that Staten Island, despite the relative wealth of its population, is of little economic value to New York City or the region at large. We don't have any industry or major transportation hubs that could back us up. :njt: even said the same thing; they won't do it unless they see a direct benefit to NJ. The problem is not whether or not we will get that kind of development under such a system, the problem is that we don't already have it thanks to a lack of investment and our one-sided dependence on region-wide authorities.

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  • 1 year later...

I received an email inviting me to take the metro north exam in September. The test was scheduled in October. Then I was emailed that I passed the test in November. They sent me a link to perform a background check. It's been about a month and I haven't heard back. Does anyone know how long the process might take?

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