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 12-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.

The Northern Branch Corridor DEIS was prepared by NJ TRANSIT in cooperation with the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to evaluate the benefits, costs and social, economic and environmental impacts of constructing and operating passenger rail service between North Bergen in Hudson County and Tenafly or Englewood in Bergen County. The DEIS evaluates two Build Alternatives. The Build Alternatives are comprised of an electric light rail system that would operate along an existing freight rail right-of-way from North Bergen, Hudson County to Bergen County. The Preferred Alternative, referred to as Light Rail to Tenafly, would terminate at a station near the Tenafly/Cresskill border. The second Build Alternative, referred to as Light Rail to Englewood Route 4 would terminate at a station near Route 4 in Englewood. The project includes a direct connection to the existing Hudson-Bergen Light Rail (HBLR) system at Tonnelle Avenue in North Bergen. As part of this project, due to the need to separate light rail vehicles from freight vehicles, freight service would be moved to the overnight hours, when light rail vehicles would not be operated.

The Northern Branch service would operate primarily on existing railroad right-of-way owned by the New York, Susquehanna & Western (NYS&W) in North Bergen and CSX Transportation (CSX) between North Bergen and Tenafly or Englewood and would introduce new station stops in North Bergen, Ridgefield, Palisades Park, Leonia, and Englewood, as well as Tenafly under the Preferred Alternative.

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