What Commuters Can Expect Under PA Plan

The mass transit plan outlined yesterday by Gov. Cahill is designed to provide North Jersey with a unified rail network using current Port of New York and New Jersey facilities as the base for improved service in the near future and expanded facilities in the years ahead.

Cahill and Gov. Rockefeller of New York jointly announced a $650 million program of new rail service, with $390 million to be spent on the Jersey side of the Hudson River.

At the same time, the governors agreed on legislation that would repeal a 1962 bond covenant, which effectively protects the Port Authority from becoming involved in money-losing mass transit programs.

The agreement, on the surface at least, represents a major victory for Cahill in his continuing battle to force the Port Authority into more mass transit programs.

Project in Two Stages

The New Jersey project is in two stages. One would extend PATH service from Penn Station in Newark to Newark Airport and then south and west 17 miles to Plainfield. The second would link up Erie-Lackawanna lines running south from Bergen and Passaic counties and east from Morris and Essex counties with the main line of the Penn Central.

Erie-Lackawanna commuters now must go to the line's terminus in Hoboken and then switch to PATH lines for connection either to Penn Station in mid-Manhattan or to the World Trade Center in the Wall Street area.

Under the new system, most riders would go directly to Penn Station because their trains would switch over to Penn Central tracks at Kearny and Secaucus. Commuters whose destination was the World Trade Center would continue to switch trains at Hoboken.

At first glance, it would appear that the Erie-Lackawanna commuters stand to benefit most in terms of time saved (20 to 25 minutes) by getting direct service to New York. The riders of the new PATH extension in Union County would get new and faster trains but would still have to switch to get to mid-Manhattan, either to the Penn Central at Newark or PATH trains at Jersey City.

Expects Direct Link

However, an administration spokesman said he believes the extra passengers generated by the PATH extension eventually will persuade the Port Authority to provide a direct link to mid-Manhattan.

Current plans call for construction to begin next year, with completion in three or four years. By 1980 it is anticipated that the PATH extension will carry 33,000 riders a day and the Erie-Lackawanna network 50,000 riders.

Cahill said that more than half the capital costs will be picked up by the federal government.

The legislation affecting the covenant will apply to future Port Authority bonds issued for mass transit. Because the PATH extension is part of an existing project, the covenant, which guarantees that the Port Authority won't go into deficit financing beyond 10% of its reserve fund, still will apply.

The Rockefeller administration said the Port Authority will go ahead with a rail link between Penn Station in New York and Kennedy Airport on the theory that the link is an airport improvement rather than a transit system. This means, they say, that the covenant will not apply.

Cahill said he will use the same approach to the PATH link from Penn Station in Newark to Newark Airport. But, he said, that even if this approach is successfully challenged, he will recommend that New Jersey put up $49 million to stay within the limits of the covenant and protect the investment of Port Authority bondholders.

Legislation covering the repeal of the covenant and authorizing construction of rail facilities will be introduced during the current session of the Legislature and the governor said he hopes it will pass before the end of the month.

Meanwhile, Cahill implied he will drop his opposition to Port Authority plans for a World Trade Center hotel if the Port Authority agrees to scale down its plans.

And in another sideshift, Transportation Commissioner John C. Kohl said that the Erie-Lackawanna linkup with the Penn Central at Secaucus will make it much easier to provide direct rail service to the sports complex in the East Rutherford Meadows.

The PATH extension in Union County would eliminate Jersey Central service east of Plainfield. A total of $18 million from a 1948 bond issue earmarked for electrifying the line would be used on the PATH project, along with $5 million a year in state subsidies to the bankrupt line.

Stops scheduled for the PATH extension are Plainfield, Netherwood, Fanwood, Westfield, Garwood, the Garden State Parkway, Roselle Park, and three stations in Elizabeth before Newark Airport.