Lackawanna Cut-Off Restoration Project

A line of former NJ Transit ALP-44 electric locomotives stored on the Lackawanna Cut-Off near Port Morris. Photographed in April 2013
Lackawanna Cut-Off Restoration Project
MP.0
133.1 mi
214.2 km
Scranton
107.6 mi
173.2 km
Tobyhanna
100.3 mi
161.4 km
Pocono Mountain
86.8 mi
139.7 km
Analomink
81.6 mi
131.3 km
East Stroudsburg
77.2 mi
124.2 km
Delaware Water Gap
DL Pocono Line
74.3
73.0
PA
NJ
64.8 mi
104.3 km
Blairstown
60.7 mi
97.7 km
Johnsonburg
57.6 mi
92.7 km
Greendell maintenance facility
Phase 2
Phase 1
53.0 mi
85.3 km
Andover
45.5
Lake Hopatcong
0.0
Hoboken Terminal

The Lackawanna Cut-Off Restoration Project is a New Jersey Transit and Amtrak effort to restore passenger service to the Lackawanna Cut-Off in northwest New Jersey.

Started in 2011, Phase 1 of the project is extending NJ Transit's commuter rail service 7.3 miles (11.7 km) from Port Morris Junction in Morris County to Andover in Sussex County, with the latter seeing its first passenger trains for the first time in more than half a century. Service from Andover to Hoboken Terminal and New York Penn Station is expected to begin in 2026.[1] Service to the latter will require electro-diesel locomotives (such as NJ Transit's Bombardier ALP-45DP locomotives) because the North River Tunnels cannot accommodate diesel engines.[2]

Initial steps have been taken on more phases that would rebuild the remainder of the Cut-Off to Northeastern Pennsylvania and begin train service between New York City and Scranton. In 2020, Amtrak included the route in its 15-year expansion vision. In December 2023, the Federal Railroad Administration accepted the route into its Corridor Identification and Development Program, which allocates money for planning and prioritizes the project for future funding.

  1. ^ Krawczeniuk, Borys (March 2, 2020). "New study drops cost of passenger train comeback". The Citizens' Voice. Archived from the original on March 3, 2020. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
  2. ^ Scruton, Bruce A. (August 10, 2017). "New culvert OK'd to put Andover rail station on track". The New Jersey Herald. Archived from the original on October 20, 2017. Retrieved August 10, 2017.