A coalition of state lawmakers, county freeholders and 11 mayors from three counties plans to revive a plan to run light rail trains on a freight line between Paterson and Jersey City.
A long dormant plant to restore passenger rail on a freight line through Passaic, Bergen and eventually to Hudson Counties is going to get a jump start Friday.
That jumpstart is coming from Congressman Bill Pascrell, D-NJ, who will be joined by state lawmakers, county freeholders and 11 local officials to form the North Jersey Rail Coalition to support the effort.
The coalition would breath new life into a 10-year-old plan to restore passenger rail service to a New York, Susquehanna and Western railroad line, said Ben Rich, a spokesman for Pascrell.
The first phase would run from Hawthorne to Hackensack and from Hackensack to Hudson County, linking up with NJ Transit's Hudson-Bergen Light rail line at Tonnelle Avenue, Rich said.
"We're reconstituting our coalition to advance this project," he said.
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There could be an announcement at the Paterson event about whether funding has be found to advance the project.
"You'll find out tomorrow," Rich said Thursday.
The project was listed as among those in the planning process, but waiting for funding, said Steve Santoro, NJ Transit capital project and planning director.
The line would use diesel powered rail cars similar to what NJ Transit uses on the River Line. That would allow them to run on the Hudson-Bergen line. The last work done on this line was in 2006 when NJ Transit finished work on an Environmental Impact Statement.
Larry Higgs may be reached at lhiggs@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @commutinglarry. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
