What is Northern Branch?

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A disproportionately low 17 percent of total Bergen County commuters use rail service, as compared to 60 percent in Union County and nearly 50 percent in Morris, Middlesex and Essex counties. The Northern Branch Corridor Project is proposed to address the transportation needs of southeastern Bergen County through the re-introduction of rail transit service on the Northern Branch line. This 11-mile long rail line would offer a new transit option to these residents.

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History

The arrival of passenger service on the Erie Railroad (later Erie-Lackawanna) Northern Branch Line in the 19th century spurred a period of rapid growth along the corridor. The Northern Branch communities were quickly transformed into moderately dense bedroom communities as residents utilized the railroad to reach jobs in Jersey City, Newark, and New York City. The railroad also encouraged the growth of significant industrial and manufacturing sectors, primarily in southern Bergen County and northern Hudson County.

Like many other railroads across the country, a combination of national, regional, economic, political and transportation factors led to the deterioration of both passenger and freight rail services in the Northern Branch Corridor during the second half of the 20th century. These changes led to the discontinuation of passenger rail service in the Northern Branch Corridor in the 1960s and a dramatic reduction in freight rail service.

As the Northern Branch Corridor enters the 21st century, its bedroom community character endures. The area continues to grow as communities redevelop. Former industrial areas are rapidly changing into commercial and residential uses. However, unlike earlier periods of growth during which the railroads provided a reliable travel option, residents now depend almost entirely on the roadway system for mobility within the Corridor.

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Project Planning

The growth of automobile usage and accompanying roadway congestion in recent decades led planners and officials to search for solutions to the growing traffic problems in the Bergen County area. In the mid-1990s the West Shore Region Study provided a comprehensive examination of multi-modal opportunities throughout Bergen County, New Jersey and Rockland County, New York. Recommended for further study was an extension of the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail (HBLR) from 85th Street in North Bergen along the Northern Branch to Tenafly, New Jersey.

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• HBLR terminus at Tonnelle Avenue – Instead of reaching 85th Street as assumed in the West Shore Region Study, the HBLR terminated at Tonnelle Avenue.
  
• Commuting patterns and population growth – The 2000 Census revealed that 87% of Bergen County commuters travel to Manhattan and projections indicated the total number of Manhattan-bound commuters will continue to grow through 2030.
  
• Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU) technology – New DMU vehicles that meet Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) structural requirements for vehicles operating in mixed freight traffic were introduced in 2002.
  
• Access to the Region’s Core – The Trans-Hudson Express (THE) Tunnel emerged as the preferred alternative in a NJ TRANSIT-sponsored Environmental Impact Statement for increasing trans-Hudson commuting capacity. THE Tunnel opens the possibility of a future direct connection between Bergen County and Midtown Manhattan.

These developments significantly change the baseline assumptions against which the original HBLR extension recommendations were made. Whether considered individually or in combination, their effect requires a re-evaluation of the original Study’s conclusions.

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