Finally, after more years than any of us can count, NJ Transit has done what the agency should have done long ago — it has ended debate over the MOM line and will run the rail link to Red Bank.
It is a compromise plan, one that recognizes several realities:
- The Monmouth Junction line was the most expensive to build, by far.
- The greatest need for the line was in Monmouth and Ocean counties.
- Middlesex County was not going to back down and NJ Transit had expressed an unwillingness in the past to move forward without consensus.
Hence, the compromise:
“Each of the three counties have different needs; it’s what could everyone live with,” said Ocean County Freeholder James F. Lacey. “The bottom line is Ocean County needed a rail line. Middlesex County had concerns about it going through their county. We needed something good for the region and the state that we could afford.”
This is, to put it mildly, a victory for the folks in Jamesburg, Monroe and South Brunswick, who refused to give up and continued fighting even as the Monmouth and Ocean County pols continued their own push.
With the compromise in place, NJ Transit can get to work on a much needed rail line and Middlesex County homeowners can rest a bit easier.
Hank Kalet 