Atlantic City Line

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Atlantic City Line
#4216 leading three Comet IV cars waits to pull Train 4622 out of Atlantic City.
Info
Type	Regional rail
System	New Jersey Transit rail operations
Locale	White Horse Pike corridor
Terminals	Atlantic City Rail Terminal (south) 30th Street Station (north)
No. of stations	8
Operation
Owner	New Jersey Transit (Atlantic City to River Line) Conrail Shared Assets (Delair Bridge to Shore interlocking) Amtrak (Shore interlocking to 30th Street)
Operator(s)	New Jersey Transit
Rolling stock	GP40PH-2A/B locomotives, Comet IV cars
Technical
No. of tracks	1 plus sidings (Shore Interlocking to Atlantic City-Brigantine Connector)
Gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8½ in)
Line map Philadelphia-30th Street Station Zoo Interlocking, Harrisburg Line diverges North Philadelphia Shore Interlocking, diverges from NEC Delaware R., Penn./N.J. border CSAO Pavonia Yard lead Cherry Hill Lindenwold PATCO Speedline Atco Hammonton Egg Harbor City Absecon Atlantic City Rail Terminal

The Atlantic City Line (ACL) is run by New Jersey Transit between Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Atlantic City, New Jersey, operating along the corridor of the White Horse Pike. It runs over trackage that was controlled by both the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines. It shares trackage with SEPTA and Amtrak on the Northeast Corridor until it crosses the Delaware River on its own Delair Bridge into New Jersey. The Atlantic City Line also shares the right-of-way with the PATCO Speedline between Haddonfield and Lindenwold, NJ. There are 14 departures each day in both directions. Conrail also uses the line for freight movements (which are segregated) on small sections, including the NEC-Delair Bridge section to its main freight yard in Camden, New Jersey. However, the line does not have a "peak period" of additional fares during a weekday. [2]

Contents 1 History 1.1 Proposed express service to New York City 2 Equipment 3 Station listing 4 Cross-honoring of tickets on buses 5 References 6 External links

[edit] History

The current Atlantic City line opened April 1, 1989, using old tracks from previous railways. Amtrak ran from Philadelphia to Atlantic City, mainly, with a "Gambler's Express" train also going to Atlantic City from other areas. The following September, New Jersey Transit moved in, serving from Atlantic City to Lindenwold. At Lindenwold, transfer was available to PATCO to get to Philadelphia or elsewhere; the cost of an NJ Transit fare and a transfer undercut that of a direct Amtrak route from Philadelphia to Atlantic City. In 1994, Amtrak announced that it would pull out of its unprofitable Atlantic City service (it actually pulled out on April 1, 1995). Initially, there were worries that NJ Transit would also cease operations, as Amtrak had been helping maintain the track and NJ Transit would be forced to buy its own fueling facility. However, NJ Transit decided to stay, at least for the time being; a target of a US $1 million subsidy reduction was set in March 1996.^[1] Service was expanded to go to 30th Street Station in Philadelphia, and a new station was built in Cherry Hill. Ridership increased, and NJ Transit decided to maintain the line after declaring that the line's ridership had met the target set for it.

Another improvement that has since occurred was the starting of a shuttle service between the rail terminal and the city's casinos. Now, jitneys take arrivals free of charge to the shore and the various casinos.

[edit] Proposed express service to New York City

Main article: ACES (New Jersey Transit)

In June 2006, the board of New Jersey Transit accepted a plan for Express service between Atlantic City, New Jersey and Pennsylvania Station in Midtown Manhattan, for a three year trial to begin in 2007.

Service will be provided with station stops at New York Penn Station and Newark Penn Station, then directly to Atlantic City in about two and one-half hours. New train cars will be provided by Amtrak and service will be partially funded by the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority (MGM Mirage) and Atlantic City Express Service, LLC (ACES) (Boyd Gaming Corporation), which are the companies that own Bally's, Harrah's, Showboat, Caesars, Borgata, Resorts, and Tropicana casinos in Atlantic City.^[2]

The service will bypass Philadelphia and enter the Atlantic City Line directly from the Northeast Corridor Line at Shore Interlocking. Only 25% of the seats are slated for sale to the general public, with the rest reserved for the casinos backing the new train service.^[3]

At first it was said that the new express train service will initially have no stops in New Jersey, and run directly from Penn Station New York to Atlantic City. However, as of March 16th, 2008, casino officials and NJ Transit have agreed that there will be a stop in New Jersey at Newark's Penn Station. ^[4]

The new service will have the nickname of "ACES" which stands for Atlantic City Express Service and is also a play on the aces card found in a deck of playing cards used in Atlantic City casinos.

[edit] Equipment

Regularly scheduled service on the Atlantic City Line consists mainly of rebuilt ex-Penn Central GP40PH-2A and 2B diesel locomotives pushing or pulling primarily three-car Comet IV trains. When Amtrak had regular service on this line, power was provided by now-retired F40PH locomotives, with a cab car on the opposite end to provide push-pull operation.

[edit] Station listing

The trains serve the following stations:

City	Station	Connections
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Philadelphia-30th Street Station	SEPTA, Amtrak
Cherry Hill Township	Cherry Hill	NJT 406 (Stops on Route 70), 450 buses
Lindenwold	Lindenwold	NJT 403, 451, 459, and 554 buses, PATCO
Atco	Atco
Hammonton	Hammonton	NJT 554 bus, Community Shuttle
Egg Harbor City	Egg Harbor City	NJT 554 bus NOTE: Buses stop on White Horse Pike.
Absecon	Absecon	NJT 554 bus NOTE: The 554 eastbound stops one block north on White Horse Pike.
Atlantic City	Atlantic City Rail Terminal	Atlantic City Bus Terminal (2 blocks east of the station): NJT 319, 501, 502, 504, 505, 507, 508, 509, 551, 552, 553, 554, 559 buses NOTE: The 552 stops directly at the rail terminal.

[edit] Cross-honoring of tickets on buses

Atlantic City Line train tickets are also honored on the 551 and 554 lines for travel to and from railroad stations at all times. Customers using rail tickets to ride the 554 line must board and alight directly at or within one block of the Lindenwold, Hammonton, Egg Harbor City, or Absecon train stations, or at the Atlantic City Bus Terminal. Tickets for travel between Philadelphia and Atlantic City are honored on the 551 between the bus terminals in the two cities.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Current Schedule (Updated April 23, 2006)

v • d • e New Jersey Transit Rail Operations Hoboken Division Erie Lines: Bergen – Main – Pascack Valley – Port Jervis Morris and Essex: Gladstone Branch and Morristown Line Montclair-Boonton Newark Division North Jersey Coast – Northeast Corridor – Princeton Branch – Raritan Valley – ACES (starts 2009) Atlantic City Division Atlantic City – ACES (starts 2009) Connections Aldene – Hunter – Kearny – Montclair – Secaucus – Waterfront Other information Stations – Retired fleet - System map - ALP-44 - ALP-46 - PL42AC

v • d • e Mass transit in the Delaware Valley Bus lines SEPTA: Philadelphia • Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery counties Reading: Berks Area Reading Transit Authority New Jersey Transit: Camden, Gloucester, and Salem County suburban service • Camden, Gloucester, and Salem County local service • Long-distance local routes from Philadelphia DART First State: New Castle County Commuter/heavy rail lines SEPTA: Regional Rail • Market–Frankford Line Broad Street Line New Jersey Transit: Atlantic City Line • Atlantic City-NYC express (future) Camden County-Philadelphia: PATCO Speedline Light rail lines SEPTA: Subway–Surface trolleys • Route 15 • Route 100 • Routes 101 and 102 New Jersey Transit: River Line