Township supports West Trenton rail study

Committee approves resolution backing county move

By:Roger Alvarado
   The Township Committee Tuesday unanimously approved a resolution in support of a county study that would determine how viable it would be to reactivate the West Trenton Rail Line.
   The Hillsborough town center plan calls for the restoration of the rail line.
   Currently, NJ Transit is looking into the possibility of restoring service along the railroad, which runs from SEPTA’s West Trenton station in Ewing into Somerset County. The line would merge with the Raritan Valley Line into Newark’s Penn Station in Bridgewater.
   The Somerset County Planning Board has proposed spending $145,000 from a North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority grant in order to perform a technical study and come up with design plans for proposed station locations along the West Trenton Line.
   Mayor Steven Sireci says Hillsborough is in full support of the proposed study going forward.
   "We want to reactivate it so it can become a commuter line," he said. "It is included in our town center plans, what we are expressing tonight through this resolution is support for that."