Sweeney and State Sen. Donald Norcross (D., Camden) said the rail line would boost the towns along the line and ease traffic congestion for Philadelphia-bound commuters on heavily traveled Routes 42 and 55.
Norcross said the "anchors" at either end of the line would be Rowan and Rutgers-Camden universities.
His brother, George Norcross, the chairman of Cooper University Hospital in Camden and a South Jersey Democratic party leader, has been a driving force behind Gov. Christie's controversial plan to combine Rowan and Rutgers-Camden.
The proposed $1.6 billion light-rail line would run alongside an existing Conrail freight line through Glassboro, Pitman, Mantua, Wenonah, Woodbury, Deptford, West Deptford, Westville, Bellmawr, Brooklawn, Gloucester City, and Camden.
It would connect to PATCO and River Line trains at the Walter Rand Transportation Center in Camden, where passengers could catch trains to Philadelphia or Trenton.
The first leg of the line, from Camden to Woodbury, could be operational in about five years if financing is available, DRPA officials have said.
But that's a big if.
The DRPA has said it won't pay to build or operate the light-rail line, and NJ Transit has not committed to paying for it, either.
NJ Transit will pay for the environmental-impact study approved Wednesday, and DRPA will oversee the work.
The study will be done by STV Inc., an engineering and architectural firm headquartered in Douglassville, Pa. It will take about two years.
STV was awarded a no-bid $8.9 million contract to do the study in July 2009. The firm did about $450,000 worth of work before the study was halted by the new Christie administration, which objected to the lack of competitive bidding for the project and ordered it put out for bid.
