Hudson Bergen Light Rail

How does a three seat ride to Manhattan sound to you? First take a ride on a proposed "Northern Branch" train, then switch for the Hudson Bergen Light Rail, and then switch again for the PATH. No good? Well... there's always riding on the "Northern Branch" train, then switching to the Hudson Bergen Light rail and then switching again for a ferry.

Apparently New Jersey Transit thinks that sounds like a great commute. (NJT press release, Jersey Journal article)

For more than a decade, Bergen County was told to quietly wait their turn for their share of the Hudson-Bergen bounty. Now it's official that their share isn't coming.

The original plan was to extend to Hudson Bergen Light rail north to Tenafly, giving Bergen County commuters a one seat ride to the Hudson gold coast... ferries in Weehawken and Hoboken... and a quick transfer to the PATH trains to midtown and lower Manhattan. Now, the HBLR will end in North Bergen and a separate DMU (Diesel Multiple Unit) train will extend north from there, requiring a transfer.

DMU is a great technology, don't get me wrong... but making Bergen County commuters ride three different trains to get into NYC is too much to ask. And the vague carrot of someday having a one seat ride if another tunnel gets bored under the Hudson into Manhattan... I'll believe that one when I see it.

NJ Transit: Do it right, finish what you started and make good on your promise.