Costs way up/ potential way down. But, never say never!
01/07/2007
Rail study raises costs
BY BORYS KRAWCZENIUK
STAFF WRITER
The cost of the proposed passenger rail service between Scranton and Hoboken, N.J., has ballooned to an estimated $551 million, more than three times an early estimate and far more than the most recent estimate, according to a new study.
The other bad news in the study is a daily ridership estimate from the Scranton station by 2030 that’s only 40 passengers on a weekday, just 1.1 percent ?of the 133-mile trip’s estimated 3,530 daily riders. That could hurt Scranton’s chances for being a stop on the line.
The long-awaited New Jersey Transit study, an assessment of the project’s potential effects on the environment, will be the subject of four upcoming public hearings.
The first will be on Jan. 17 from 4 to 8 p.m at the Hilton Scranton and Conference Center. Others will take place in Stroudsburg, Blairstown, N.J., and Andover, N.J.
“If people have questions, that’s where to ask them,” said Larry Malski, chief operating officer of the Pennsylvania Northeast Regional Railroad Authority, which is sponsoring the Pennsylvania end of the project.
The project costs are expected to be borne by a yet-to-be-determined split involving the federal government and the two states. In recent years, the federal government has typically contributed no more than 50 percent of the start-up costs of new rail projects.
An earlier study pegged the cost at about $200 million, but a later one set it several years ago at $350 million. Mr. Malski said the latest study includes $170 million in contingencies and soft costs, which may vary widely.
The costs could come down as they are refined during preliminary engineering, if the Federal Transit Administration allows the project to move into that phase, Mr. Malski said.
Officials, he said, are hoping for a decision by FTA on the environmental impact by the end of March, but the project has blown past every timetable set before.
Ridership from each station along a proposed new rail line is crucial because FTA has lopped off stops that didn’t have enough passengers in at least one other project, in Minnesota.
Mr. Malski remains optimistic. A Scranton stop is necessary because the city is the best place for a rail yard where cars and engines could be stored and maintained, he said.
The project will have a variety of environmental effects from simple noise to disturbance of endangered species, according to the study, which comes to no conclusions about whether they may be overcome. The best estimate of a start to construction is no earlier than 2010.
Contact the writer:
bkrawczeniuk@timesshamrock.com