Pro-rail group sues over Princeton
Written by William C. Vantuono, Editor-in-ChiefPro-rail citizens in Princeton, N.J., and nearby towns have filed a lawsuit in New Jersey Superior Court to block any truncation or elimination of New Jersey Transit’s Princeton Branch rail service (or the “Dinky”), as sought by Princeton University.
The lawsuit, filed Oct. 3 by the citizens group Save the Dinky, sought to counter action by Princeton borough officials slated to vote on a transit agreement with Princeton Township and Princeton University to remove part of the line for other purposes. One plaintiff, Peter Marks, serves on the Princeton Borough council.
Save the Dinky lawyer Bruce Afran argues that the university lacks the authority to move the station any further than it was moved back in the 1980s. The seeks a permanent injunction barring the university from relocating the Dinky, as well as a “declaratory judgment” that the public has acquired an easement to access and exit the Dinky station at its existing station platform.
Princeton University officials have ignored calls for the rail line to be preserved either as a rail shuttle, as operated at present (using electric multiple-unit Arrow III cars) or as converted to potential light rail transit. The university says the current station must be for a new arts center project and an additional roadway to a parking garage.
New Jersey Transit officials claim NJT believes the university has the right to move the station under the terms of a contract between the two. Rail advocates statewide counter that NJT’s commitment to anything LRT is tepid at best.
The Princeton terminus already has been moved south several times since the original line was constructed in 1865, most recently in 1987 under the terms of a sales contract between the university and NJ Transit. The 1984 sales contract said the university could make a southward move of the terminus “coincident with the location of the minimum reservation of platform space.”
The Dinky’s southern terminus interfaces with Northeast Corridor service (Amtrak and NJT) at Princeton Junction Station.
