NEWARK, N.J. — The long wait for restoration of service on NJ Transit’s Atlantic City Line now has an end date.
NJ Transit has announced that service on the 68-mile line from Philadelphia to Atlantic City, N.J., will return May 24, 2019, almost five months after the date originally promised in August 2018, when the plan was announced to shut down the line to accommodate installation of positive train control. [See “NJ Transit director says Atlantic City service will return by Jan. 1,” Trains News Wire, Aug. 21, 2018.] Service was suspended Sept. 5, 2018.
Service on the “Princeton Dinky,” the 2-mile shuttle between the Northeast Corridor and the Princeton University campus, will also return on May 24. Both routes have been served by considerably slower bus service since they were shut down. Still without a scheduled return date is through weekday service to New York’s Penn Station on the Raritan Valley Line; since September, a train change has been required for riders on that route.
As 2019 arrived, Atlantic City Line riders had not been informed of a restoration date, then were told service would resume in the second quarter of 2019 [see “NJ Transit says Atlantic City, Princeton lines won’t reopen until spring,” Trains News Wire, Jan. 25, 2019].
The date was announced by NJ Transit Executive Director Kevin Corbett at a Wednesday night meeting with commuters in Cherry Hill, N.J., the second in a series offering passengers a chance to discuss their concerns with NJ Transit officials. The agency had been under pressure from Gov. Phil Murphy to set a date.
“I am pleased to see that the Princeton Dinky, which is so important to thousands of commuters, and the Atlantic City Rail Line, which is a key part of the life blood of the Jersey Shore, will be operating in time for Memorial Day weekend and the kickoff to the summer tourism season,” Murphy said in a statement.
Someone explain to me why the Princeton Dinky still exists. If it is only 2 miles long why not just rip it up and pave the ROW to make it a four season biking/walking/running trail supplemented by a campus shuttle bus for those not athletically inclined. That would seem to me to be much more cost effective and would serve the same purpose with the addition of a safer route for those on foot and on bikes.
Dr. Mckay came from the Church of Scotland, which is presbyterian in governance (neither congregational nor episcopal), whose distinguished career prior to becoming president of Princeton Theo. Seminary included decades of teaching in S. America. A true gentleman in every way, his humor, when it came, appeared like a flash of lighting, which you either caught or not.
Regarding the “center of the universe” quip, for more than a century, the Presbyterian Church maintained offices in both Philadelphia (correcting the earlier post) and New York City. As a prominent churchman Dr. Mckay would have reason to travel to both, walking from Springdale, his residence on campus, to the PJ&B station.
One might be surprised at the traffic on the “dinky” as it meets every train that stops at P’ton Jctn. It may carry more passengers per train mile than any other line in the USA.
Now, here’s another useless anecdotal sidebar: Back in the Gilded Age there was a gentleman, whose name I’ve forgotten, who had his own special train, which consisted of the loco and parlour car, to ride from P’ton to NYC and back whenever he wanted. Perhaps the most difficult part of this commute was getting from Pennsylvania Station to/from Wall St.
CURTIS – You went to Princeton? If you can explain your professor’s Princeton’s Presbyterian joke (it went over my head), that would be good. In return I’ll explain Columbia University’s Protestant Episcopal joke. The joke was that there weren’t any students who belonged to the P.E. Church. (The University has since become nondenominational.)
Columbia’s other joke (at the time, it changed as soon as I graduated) was that the University president was required to be a Protestant. But one of the past Presidents (who went on to be President of USA) was a nominal Presbyterian who (along with his wife Mamie) was well known for never seeing the inside of a church.
The only other joke I remember from Columbia was getting there via the New Haven Railroad, until I gave up on that dilapidated joke and switched to Eastern, American and Northeast Airlines. Making me this forum’s railfan who most loves airplanes.
Charles; can’t stop laughing at your post – – – –
Can anyone who proposes ripping up a rail line and paving it over, no mater how short the line, really call them selves a rail fan? And if not then why are you on this site.
With N J Transit—“I”ll believe it when I see it”.
As one who has ridden the “dinky” many times since the early 1970’s, the removal from the classic campus station to ??? was/is incomprehensible. Why do that?
For what it is worth, the original layout at P’ton Jct. was a bi-direction wye. As one of my old profs, a Scots whose dry humor was legendary, and who ranked Islay malts above all others, in passing commented” “You know, P’ton is the center of the universe, it is halfway between P’ton and New York.” A peculiarly Presbyterian inside joke.If anyone wants the exegesis just ask.