Andover is a planned

New Jersey Transit New Jersey Transit Corporation, branded as NJ Transit, and often shortened to NJT, is a state-owned public transportation system that serves the U.S. state of New Jersey, along with portions of New York State and Pennsylvania. It operates bus, ...

passenger railroad station in Andover Township, in Sussex County,

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York (state), New York; on the ea ...

, United States, providing service on its Lackawanna Cut-Off line. The line remains under construction. The station will be built at a site on Andover's Roseville Road, about from U.S. Route 206 and about from County Route 517. On the rail line, it will be located about west of

Port Morris Junction Port Morris Junction is the railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road tra ...

. Anticipated construction at the site includes a station and platform between the track and Roseville Road with 65 parking spaces initially, with room to expand to 125 spaces. Preparation to restore trackage between Port Morris and Andover was originally to begin in 2010 but was delayed until early 2011 due to a dispute over the exact location of the Andover Station area. Another delay was caused while environmental permits were sought. In August 2017, an agreement with a local landowner appeared to have cleared the way for the necessary environmental permits. At the time, service was projected to start in 2020, though in March 2020 it was pushed back to 2025, and it has since been delayed to 2026. The Andover station will be the terminus of the line, but plans exist for extending the Lackawanna Cut-Off line west of Andover.

History

Early history

From 1908 to 1911, the

Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad (also known as the DL&W or Lackawanna Railroad) was a U.S. Class 1 railroad that connected Buffalo, New York, and Hoboken, New Jersey (and by ferry with New York City), a distance of . Incorporated in ...

(DL&W) built a level-graded railroad line. This route, known as the Lackawanna Cut-Off, ran west from

in Roxbury Township near the south end of

Lake Hopatcong Lake Hopatcong is the largest freshwater body in New Jersey, United States, about in area. Located from the Delaware River and from Manhattan, New York City, the lake forms part of the border between Sussex and Morris counties in the state's ...

in northwestern New Jersey (about west-northwest of New York City) and to Slateford Junction near the

Delaware Water Gap Delaware Water Gap is a water gap on the border of the U.S. states of New Jersey and Pennsylvania where the Delaware River cuts through a large ridge of the Appalachian Mountains. The gap makes up the southern portion of the Delaware Water Gap ...

in northeastern Pennsylvania. With its rural landscape, tall fills, deep rock cuts, and two large viaducts, the line became renowned as a scenic highlight of the railroad's main line between

Hoboken, New Jersey Hoboken ( ; Unami: ') is a city in Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 60,417. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 58, ...

, and

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

. Through the use of fewer and less-sharp curves, no steep hills, and no

grade crossings A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, Trail, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an Overpass#Railway, overpass ...

, the route was faster and shorter than the

Lackawanna Old Road The Lackawanna Old Road was part of the original mainline of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad (DL&W). Opened in 1856, it was for a half-century a part of the line connecting the states of New Jersey and Pennsylvania. In 1911, the DL&W ...

, the rail line it replaced. The DL&W constructed structures on the new line of reinforced concrete, and the roadbed itself required the movement of millions of tons of fill material using techniques similar to those on the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a Channel ( ...

. The Cut-Off route passed through Andover Township in northwestern New Jersey's Sussex County between Greendell Station in Green Township and the

Roseville Tunnel Roseville Tunnel is a two-track railroad tunnel on the Lackawanna Cut-Off in Byram Township, Sussex County, New Jersey. The tunnel is on a straight section of railroad between mileposts 51.6 and 51.8 (83 km), about north by northwest o ...

in Byram Township. It did not stop in Andover at this time and passed over rail lines operated by the

Lehigh & Hudson River Railroad The Lehigh and Hudson River Railway (L&HR) was the smallest of the six railroads that were merged into Conrail in 1976. It was a bridge line running northeast–southwest across northwestern New Jersey, connecting the line to the Poughkeepsie Bri ...

and the Sussex Branch, and over U.S. Route 206 and county roads. The Lackawanna Cut-Off route opened for passenger service on December 24, 1911, and was operated by the Lackawanna Railroad until October 17, 1960, when the Lackawanna merged with the

Erie Railroad The Erie Railroad was a railroad that operated in the northeastern United States, originally connecting New York City — more specifically Jersey City, New Jersey, where Erie's Pavonia Terminal, long demolished, used to stand — with Lake ...

. The resulting

Erie Lackawanna Railroad The Erie Lackawanna Railway , known as the Erie Lackawanna Railroad until 1968, was formed from the 1960 merger of the Erie Railroad and the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad. The official motto of the line was "The Friendly Service Route ...

(EL) operated the line until April 1, 1976, when the EL was conveyed into Conrail, which would operate it until January 1979. The line was abandoned in 1983 and the track was removed the following year. Conrail sold the right-of-way to two land developers in 1985, and the State of New Jersey acquired it in 2001.

Planning and restoration

New_Jersey_Transit_Lackawanna_Cut-Off_Andover_station_site_2011-06-11_Adam_Moss_flickr_photo

New Jersey Transit's Board of Directors authorized consultant work for conceptual design, completion of the

environmental assessment Environmental Impact assessment (EIA) is the assessment of the environmental consequences of a plan, policy, program, or actual projects prior to the decision to move forward with the proposed action. In this context, the term "environmental imp ...

(EA) and preparation of the documentation required by the

Federal Transit Administration The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is an agency within the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) that provides financial and technical assistance to local public transportation systems. The FTA is one of ten modal administratio ...

for new transit lines to open service to northwestern New Jersey and northeastern Pennsylvania. The State of New Jersey completed the purchase of the Lackawanna Cut-Off right-of-way and property within the state in May 2001. In May 2008, the

North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority The North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority (NJTPA) is the federally authorized metropolitan planning organization (MPO) for the 13-county northern New Jersey region, one of three MPOs in the state. NJTPA's annual budget is more than $2&n ...

(NJTPA) approved funding to rebuild the first segment of track for restored service along the Cut-Off route between Andover and Port Morris Junction. After review of the submitted environmental assessment, the Federal Transit Administration issued a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for the first phase of the project to Andover on September 12, 2008.New Jersey Transit – Department of Capital Planning and Programs
"Capital Improvement Program – System Expansion Projects – Lackawanna Cutoff"
(October 2009). Retrieved February 14, 2014. Preparation to restore trackage between Port Morris and Andover was originally slated to begin in 2010 but was delayed until early 2011 due to environmental concerns and questions over the exact location of the Andover Station area. In September 2011, the first new track was laid at Port Morris; three months later,

Norfolk Southern The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31, ...

delivered of continuously welded rail to Port Morris, enough to re-lay a single track to Andover. As of 2021, much of the right-of-way between Port Morris and Lake Lackawanna had been cleared of trees and debris. A total of of track has been laid west of Port Morris Junction in three disconnected sections. As of 2021,

intends to resume rail service between Andover and

and to

New York Penn Station Pennsylvania Station, also known as New York Penn Station or simply Penn Station, is the main intercity railroad station in New York City and the busiest transportation facility in the Western Hemisphere, serving more than 600,000 passengers p ...

via transfer to

Midtown Direct The Kearny Connection is a railroad junction in Kearny, New Jersey that allows passenger trains from New Jersey Transit's Morris and Essex Lines to enter Amtrak's Northeast Corridor (NEC) and travel to and from New York Penn Station. The juncti ...

service, by connecting to the existing NJT

Montclair-Boonton Line The Montclair-Boonton Line is a commuter rail line of New Jersey Transit Rail Operations in the United States. It is part of the Hoboken Division. The line is a consolidation of three individual lines: the former Delaware, Lackawanna & Western R ...

and

Morris & Essex Lines The Morris & Essex Lines are a group of former Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western Railroad (DL&W) railroad lines in New Jersey now owned and operated by NJ Transit. The lines include service offered on the Morristown Line and the Gladstone Branch. ...

. Service is projected to start in 2026. Construction began in 2011 to restore passenger service in phases, and the first phase includes opening service along of track to Andover. Extension of service via

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...

has also been proposed, including the potential of restoring service to

Blairstown, New Jersey Blairstown is a township in Warren County, New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, Blairstown's population was 5,704. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township's population was 5,967 Scranton, Pennsylvania Scranton is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Lackawanna County. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 U.S. census, Scranton is the largest city in Northeastern Pennsylvania, the Wyoming V ...

. On April 13, 2022, the NJ Transit board announced the approval of an approximated $32.5 million contract for completion of repairs to the Roseville Tunnel and construction of the new Andover station. It is anticipated that work will be completed in the latter part of 2026.

Construction

A disagreement over the replacement of a

culvert A culvert is a structure that channels water past an obstacle or to a subterranean waterway. Typically embedded so as to be surrounded by soil, a culvert may be made from a pipe, reinforced concrete or other material. In the United Kingdo ...

on private property near the proposed station has delayed progress on the resumption of construction., but as of early August 2017, an agreement has been made to replace the culvert with the property owner and continue building track to Andover.

References

External links

Lackawanna Cut-Off map

External links

New Jersey Transit
(main homepage)
New Jersey Transit train schedules and rail service information
{{NJT stations navbox Andover Township, New Jersey Lackawanna Cut-Off Proposed NJ Transit rail stations Railway stations scheduled to open in 2026