N.J. Called Key Area In Tri-State Rail Plans

NEW YORK (AP)—The Regional Plan Association made a new plea yesterday for interstate action to avert a railroad commuter crisis.

The voluntary planning group submitted a 12-point memorandum to government and railroad officials hoping to foster eventual agreement in the tri-state area over the operation of all rail service by a single agency.

The recommendations, long advocated by the association, follow closely those suggested by the Institute of Public Administration in January 1964. But they emphasize further the vital necessity of New Jersey participating in the ultimate solution.

Seeks Unified Service

The association recommends that New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut establish a public corporation to maintain, modernize and consolidate all rail commuter service in the metropolitan area. The corporation also would develop a long range plan for the whole rail system.

Not until this is done, said C. McKim Norton, president of the association, should the federal government make capital investments in new equipment.

Also recommended was that the current deficits of the railroads should be borne by the three states.

Railroads Called Vital

The memorandum contended there was "no reasonable alternative" to railroad commuter service. It insisted that it was a government responsibility to maintain essential rail service.

It also suggested that commuter service be separated from the freight and long-line service of the seven railroads carrying commuters in the tri-state region. It added that all of the companies are willing to be relieved of the responsibility of providing this service.

The association said Gov. Nelson A. Rockefeller's proposal to establish a public agency to operate the Long Island Rail Road and take responsibility of continued service on the New Haven followed its recommended proposals. Recent Connecticut action also indicates general agreement, it said.

Mr. Norton recommended that New Jersey act immediately to set up an agency to operate the commuter service of its three rail lines, cooperate with New York and Connecticut and apply for federal funds for modernization.

"We have read so much about the importance of saving the New Haven's commuter service that New Jersey's problem has been pushed off the front page," Mr. Norton said. He added:

"Saving the New Haven is important to the metropolitan area, but any faltering of New Jersey's railroads would have several times the effect on traffic flow and economic efficiency.

"Some 150,000 New Jersey residents work in Manhattan and about a third use the railroads to get there. While nearly all the Connecticut commuters to Manhattan use the railroad, there are fewer than 16,000 of them."