everylittlebitcounts t1_j8r6a0b wrote
Reply to comment by Nexis4Jersey in This Urban Planner Wants to Build a Massive Circular Rail Track Connecting Jersey City, Newark, Paterson by p4177y
Freight and light rail physically cannot share the same tracks by definition. The catenary height of the hblr and the nec are different. But yea exactly the common carrier laws are pretty strong to prevent forced abandonment or any kind of eminent domain by the state
Nexis4Jersey t1_j8so1hq wrote
They can with special permission from the FRA. NJT does it with the RiverLINE in South Jersey, and it will be done with the Northern Branch. A small section of the Newark Light Rail had freight on it until 2007. The NS Newark Branch sees very little traffic, so I doubt NJT will have any issues using the line. The height of the Catenary can be adjusted for freight clearance its not a fixed height. SEPTA has a section of streetcar that crosses the CSX main line and catenary is higher to meet the clearence of the double stack.
down_up__left_right t1_j8so8r3 wrote
>Freight and light rail physically cannot share the same tracks by definition.
Doesn't the River line light rail share tracks with freight?
Although go into the posts about the IBX on r/r/nycrail if you want to see all the arguments about what the definition of light rail is. It's not a scientific term so it doesn't actually have a specific definition in that regard and legally the definition is just that the train cars look like trams:
Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments