Rail industry observers say smaller routes such as the one for which NJ Transit plans passenger service are essential to the strength of the country's rail-freight system in its competition with the trucking industry. Conrail, which is selling a cluster of South Jersey lines that includes the 33-mile Camden-to-Trenton route, has shed many smaller lines to short-line operators, which industry experts say can operate more efficiently for short hauls than larger companies by tailoring service to customers.
Collard, whose company bid unsuccessfully for Conrail's South Jersey lines, worries that NJ Transit's discussions of passenger service have left out two important players: the railroad company that will own the tracks, and the Burlington County industries that receive freight shipments along the line.
Three short-line rail operators are the top bidders on the South Jersey Conrail lines, which include nearly 150 miles of track. Conrail would not release the names of the bidders.
And while NJ Transit moves ahead with plans for passenger service in South Jersey, the transit agency has no legal guarantees that the freight line's new owner will allow them to operate passenger service on the tracks, said Bill Herkner, director of rail contract administration for NJ Transit.
NJ Transit's board of directors gave the state agency the go-ahead Nov. 26 for engineering studies on the Camden-to-Trenton line through Burlington County. State transit officials have been meeting this month with residents of towns along the proposed route.
John Sutton, NJ Transit's project director for the South Jersey line, has said the short-line operator that buys the Camden-to-Trenton line would be able to operate freight trains only when passenger service ceased, probably between midnight and 5 or 6 a.m. Passenger light-rail cars and freight traffic usually cannot share track time for safety reasons.
