Fate of late night Rockland train to be decided this week

Rockland residents will likely find out this week if they'll still be able to take a late night Pascack Valley Line train on most days to get home from New York City.

On Wednesday, the New Jersey Transit board is expected to decide whether to eliminate the 12:45 a.m. train out of Hoboken, N.J. (1601), which runs Monday through Friday. That would leave those who work or stay late in the city scrambling to catch the 10:42 p.m. departure from Hoboken.

But people who like to spend Friday or Saturday nights in the city can take some consolation: Train 2101, which departs Hoboken at 12:45 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays, is not part of the package of potential service cuts, meaning they can return to stations in Pearl River, Nanuet and Spring Valley.

If approved, NJ Transit spokeswoman Nancy Snyder said the service would end in September, while a nine percent fare increase would take effect in October. Most train riders in Rockland, except those who travel from Suffern, wouldn't be impacted by the proposed increase since they pay their fares to Metro-North Railroad.

NJ Transit needs to close a $56 million budget gap. Eliminating Train 1601 — which serves about 40 daily riders — would save it $420,000 this fiscal year. Roughly half of those riders get off at one of three stations in Rockland, Metropolitan Transportation Authority spokesman Aaron Donovan said.

Although the MTA pays NJ Transit nearly $23 million a year to run the trains on its Pascack Valley and Port Jervis lines, it doesn't have veto power over NJ Transit's decisions to cut back service levels. However, the two agencies try to work together, Donovan said.

"The MTA and Metro-North are actively discussing this proposal with NJ Transit to determine what options would be available to minimize inconvenience for our customers should NJ Transit decide to eliminate this train," he said in an email.

If the MTA were to pick-up the full expense of running the train, Donovan said it would cost $640,000 a year.

More than 1,000 comments about the proposed fare hike and service cuts were submitted to NJ Transit, but it didn't lead to changing the recommendations.

Randy Glucksman, chairman of the Metro-North Railroad Commuter Council, said Rockland was being neglected by transit agencies.

"It's simply unfair that we don't have anywhere near the level of service that Metro-North has on the other side of the river," he said.

Rockland County Executive Ed Day, who has criticized the service cut, said he remained troubled.

"Fare hikes and service cuts disproportionately affect our working-class residents," Day said in a statement. "NJT should look to close budget gaps by reducing expenses and improving efficiencies, not by cutting trains and making riders pay more."

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