Editing River Line (NJ Transit) (section)

==History==
===Alignment===
{{main|Amboy Branch|Bordentown Branch}}
The River Line was constructed on what originally was the [[Amboy Branch|Camden-Bordentown]] section and the [[Bordentown Branch]] of the [[Camden and Amboy Railroad]] (C&A). The lines ran under the C&A name between 1830 and 1871, when the line was absorbed into the [[Pennsylvania Railroad]]. Ownership proceeded under [[Penn Central]] after 1968, and [[Conrail]] from 1976 to June 1, 1999, but the original passenger service had been abandoned in 1963.<ref>Chen, David W. [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C00E1D81639F93BA15757C0A960958260 " ROAD AND RAIL;Trolley Urged for a Limping Old Freight Line"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', April 28, 1996. Accessed October 23, 2007. "In 1963, passenger service ended, and as factories moved to the outer-ring suburbs or closed (Roebling in 1974), freight service decreased to only a few times a day."</ref>

===Planning===
The path to NJ Transit's River Line spanned at least three decades and over multiple planning agencies. An unrelated precursor to the NJ Transit River Line was the [[Delaware River Port Authority]]'s 1960 plan for rail rapid transit service to [[Moorestown, New Jersey|Moorestown]]/[[Mount Holly, New Jersey|Mount Holly]], [[Lindenwold, New Jersey|Lindenwold]], and [[Woodbury Heights, New Jersey|Woodbury Heights]]/[[Glassboro, New Jersey|Glassboro]], using three existing railroad corridors. Implementation of the complete plan was considered unrealistically expensive. The DRPA elected to focus its resources on the most promising corridor, the Philadelphia–Lindenwold route. Construction on the [[PATCO Speedline]] began in 1966 and was completed in 1969, re-using the 1936 Bridge Line subway and constructing a grade-separated heavy-rail line within the [[Atlantic City Line]] right-of-way. The DRPA's original proposal did not include the alignment that became the River Line corridor, but planned to serve [[Burlington County, New Jersey|Burlington County]] via the Mount Holly alignment.

NJ Transit's planning for the ''Burlington–Gloucester Transit System'' began in the early 1990s.<ref>{{cite news  | last = Dooley  | first = Tara  |author2=Dalan, Matthew  | title = Nj Transit Study Explores S. Jersey Rail-line Options Burlco Officials Are Pleased With The Report. Gloucester County Residents Are Not.  | publisher = Philadelphia  | date = July 26, 1996  | url = http://articles.philly.com/1996-07-26/news/25619935_1_rail-options-light-rail-light-rail-system  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140219124050/http://articles.philly.com/1996-07-26/news/25619935_1_rail-options-light-rail-light-rail-system  | url-status = dead  | archive-date = February 19, 2014  | access-date = 2014-01-26}}</ref>

The primary goals of the BGTS were:
* Connecting South Jersey communities to [[Philadelphia]]
* Providing [[streetcar]] service to downtown Camden
* Providing regional rail transit service to Burlington and [[Gloucester County, New Jersey|Gloucester]] Counties

A [[Major Investment Study]] (MIS) published in 1996 concluded that a Gloucester route was more suitable than a Burlington route based on travel demand and citizen support.<ref name="MIS Report">NJ Transit. ''Burlington - Camden - Gloucester Transit Project: Major Investment Study''. 1996.</ref> This study included substantial [[public participation]]: fourteen open houses, three advisory committees, and other public outreach. The process found substantial neighborhood opposition to the [[Mount Holly Township, New Jersey|Mount Holly]] alignment through Burlington County: county freeholders publicly opposed the possibility.<ref>Olsen, Eddie. "Transit Corridor Proposed." ''[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]]'', March 29, 1993.</ref> Opposition was particularly strong in [[Moorestown Township]], partly because of a potential street-running section. Meanwhile, Gloucester County leaders were largely ambivalent towards the project.<ref name="MIS Report"/>

Dissatisfied with this analysis, Senator [[C. William Haines]] introduced legislation in the [[New Jersey State Senate]] requiring NJ Transit to study rail transit service along the [[Delaware River]] between Trenton, Camden, and Glassboro.<ref name="Kummer" /> Haines, a native of Moorestown, sought the benefits of rail for Burlington County without the disruption to his hometown.<ref name="Kummer">Kummer, Frank. "Senator Engineered Change in Rail Route - A Political Maneuver Shifted the Trains from Gloucester to Burlington." ''[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]]'', July 28, 2003.</ref>

Two special studies were commissioned to supplement the alternatives identified in the MIS. The second of these special studies examined the [[Bordentown Secondary]], another Conrail corridor through Burlington County, the alignment of today’s River Line. The parallel NJ Transit local bus on [[U.S. Route 130]] was heavily patronized, and the corridor was ripe for economic development.

In November 1996, NJ Transit's board of directors approved a light rail transit alignment from Glassboro to Trenton with diesel-powered cars based on the findings of the special study. The board also established the initial operating corridor (IOC) to be the Trenton-Camden corridor. The draft [[environmental impact statement]] (DEIS) was completed in 1998, and the contract with SNJRG was finalized in 1999, permitting the system to open to the public on March 14, 2004.<ref name="opening">{{Cite web|title = Camden-Trenton: River Line Light Railway Gains Riders, Spurs Economic Development|url = http://www.lightrailnow.org/news/n_nj002.htm|website = www.lightrailnow.org|access-date = 2016-02-10}}</ref> The entire line was 100 percent funded by the State of New Jersey from its Transportation Trust Fund. No federal capital was expended for this diesel light rail project. Former NJ Transit executive director George Warrington has described the River Line as "the poster child for how not to plan and make decisions about a transit investment."<ref>Michaels, David A. "Deal is Reached in Rail Lawsuit." ''New Jersey Record'', March 11, 2007.</ref>

===Pennsauken Transit Center===
The lack of a direct transfer between the River Line and NJ Transit's [[Atlantic City Line]], which crosses directly over the River Line in [[Pennsauken, New Jersey|Pennsauken]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=Delair,+NJ&t=h&ll=39.978061,-75.062252&spn=0.000917,0.002704&t=h|title=Delair, NJ - Google Maps|work=google.com}}</ref> was highly criticized at the time of the River Line's opening. NJT subsequently reconsidered; in March 2009, NJT announced that an intermodal station linking the River Line and the Atlantic City Line would be constructed in Pennsauken.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.njtransit.com/tm/tm_servlet.srv?hdnPageAction=PressReleaseTo&PRESS_RELEASE_ID=2492|title=New Jersey Transit|work=njtransit.com|access-date=2009-04-04|archive-date=2009-05-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090522203552/http://www.njtransit.com/tm/tm_servlet.srv?hdnPageAction=PressReleaseTo&PRESS_RELEASE_ID=2492|url-status=dead}}</ref> The new [[Intermodal passenger transport|intermodal]] station would include one low-level platform for River Line trains, two high-level platforms for Atlantic City Line commuter trains, and 280 parking spaces.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.njtransit.com/tm/tm_servlet.srv?hdnPageAction=Project099To|title=New Jersey Transit|work=njtransit.com|access-date=2009-06-11|archive-date=2017-03-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170326100937/http://www.njtransit.com/tm/tm_servlet.srv?hdnPageAction=Project099To|url-status=dead}}</ref>  A ground breaking ceremony was held for the [[Pennsauken Transit Center (NJT station)|Pennsauken Transit Center]] on October 19, 2009. The second and final phase of construction was approved by the NJ Transit Board of Directors on July 13, 2011. NJ Transit opened the station to passenger service on October 14, 2013.<ref>{{cite web|title=Pennsauken Transit Center linking River Line to A.C. opens|url=http://www.courierpostonline.com/article/20131014/NEWS01/310130064/Pennsauken-Transit-Center-linking-River-Line-C-opens|date=October 14, 2013}}{{Dead link|date=January 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>