The Pascack Valley Line
W E S T.. O F.. H U D S O N

THE PASCACK VALLEY LINE CAN TRACE ITS ROOTS BACK TO THE New Jersey & New York Railroad. Originaly charted in 1856 as the Hackensack & New York Railroad, it was reorganized as the NJ&NY and bought by the Erie in 1896. Oddly enough, the NJ&NY existed on paper until the Erie-Lackawanna merger of 1960. Metro-North currently provides service from Hoboken, New Jersey to Spring Valley, New York through a contract with New Jersey Transit. The distance from Hoboken to Spring Valley is 31 miles. It is 25 miles from Hoboken to the New York border in Pearl River.

...Metro-North pays for the operation of 2 stations, Pearl River and Nanuet. Spring Valley is owned by the Village. The entire line is owned by NJT including the portion in New York State. The yard in Spring Valley is Woodbine Yard. Woodbine yard has 3 tracks to hold 7 equipment consists made up of 35 cars and 7 locomotives.

...In 2007, sidings were completed on the line to permit off-peak and weekend service. Conrail services a few freight customers on the line with a traveling switcher.

...At one time, the line extended north of Spring Valley to Thiels, NY. The portion of the line from Spring Valley to Nanuet was once part of the main line of the Erie Railroad that ran from Piermont-on-the-Hudson to Buffalo. When Metro-North took over the responsibility for the service in New York State, they held public hearings to determine the feasibility of extending passenger service from Spring Valley west to Suffern. This would have helped relieve traffic on the New York Thruway and adjacent Route 59. It also would have permitted the closure of the Spring Valley yard which is located in a residential area. Public opposition from residents along the line ended the study, but the right-of-way remains (out of service).

...While the Pascack Valley Line has the potential to draw much more ridership, parking is a problem. The three stations in New York on the Pascack Valley Line are Pearl River, Nanuet and Spring Valley.

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