New study likely the final word on train plan

It seems like a good idea — simple, effective, necessary. That probably means it will never happen. The idea to restore passenger rail service to interior Monmouth and Ocean counties and southern Middlesex County has been kicking around for almost two decades.

As Route 9 and other area highways are choked with commuters on a daily basis and more people are moving to the region each year, the need for transportation alternatives has never been more clear.

So why has the process of restoring passenger rail service turned into such a screwed-up mess? Simply put, it’s because no one — or very few people, if any — want a train running through their back yard. Waiting decades to get the trains running has put more and more houses along the routes that are being considered.

Last week, the price tag to build and operate a passenger rail line in this region became public. The numbers are shocking and sobering — ranging from $600 million to $860 million to construct a line and from $42 million to $49 million a year to operate it.

The data, contained in an NJ Transit Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS), leads us to fear that rail service is a dream that will never materialize, given New Jersey’s shaky fiscal situation and the political realities associated with trying to get something done in this state.

We have long expressed support for the resumption of passenger rail service via a Lake-hurst to South Brunswick line. Passengers from interior Mon-mouth and Ocean counties and southern Middlesex County would then be able to head north to New Brunswick and Newark, and on to New York; or south to Trenton and points south.

The DEIS should be the last word on passenger rail service in this region. Millions of dollars have been spent studying the issue; millions more need not be wasted on an effort that appears doomed to be nothing more than a footnote in the history of Monmouth, Ocean and Middlesex counties.

Let’s all enjoy our time on our congested highways.