Delaware transit: There’s a lot riding on future of rail service in Newark

The rail stop adjacent to the former Chrysler plant is one of the site's most significant assets -- but the trains could cease stopping there if one of several proposed Newark, Del., station locations gains the support of transportation officials, The News Journal reports.

Next month, the Delaware
Department of Transportation is expected to release a study identifying the
best place to build a new train station to support increased rail service in Newark.
The station would support traffic from SEPTA and Amtrak, but officials also are
hoping it would be on the route of expanded service by Maryland’s MARC commuter
rail system and part of a new passenger route connecting Wilmington and Dover.

"This is a very
important project, and it’s one we think is the future of Delaware and one that
people are passionate about," said Stephen Kingsberry, executive director
of the Delaware Transit Corporation.

One of the options under
consideration by the state is building a new station on the Chrysler site,
which the University of Delaware recently purchased with plans for a research
and technology park. Kingsberry would not name the other Newark locations being
considered, but Newark Mayor Vance Funk said one is along Library Avenue (Del.
72).

City and university leaders
want the station to be built on the 272-acre Chrysler site.

"The state is trying
to get better rail service from the north and south," UD President Patrick
Harker said. "You can almost go from Richmond, Va., to Boston at a low
cost — one of the two missing pieces is Perryville, Md., to Newark. There’s a
lot of interest in Amtrak and commuter rail because it’s a very low-cost means
of transportation."

Kingsberry said the stop at
the Chrysler site lacks a station that meets modern standards for safety and
capacity. He said the parking area and surrounding roads also would need
upgrading.

"There’s only one
track going into Newark currently, and we need to add at least another track so
you could add more trains," Kingsberry said.

The Transit Corporation is
pursuing an extension of MARC service and the funding to begin passenger
service between Wilmington and Dover.

Although the study is
expected to determine the best location for the station, Kingsberry said, the
state’s budget problems make it hard to give a timetable for construction.

The U.S. Army is expected
to have a major research presence at the redeveloped Chrysler site, and UD
officials also are developing master’s degree programs for employees at
Aberdeen Proving Ground in Aberdeen, Md. If Maryland and Delaware work out an
agreement to extend MARC service from its current end point in Perryville, Md.,
to Newark, personnel from Aberdeen Proving Ground could travel back and forth
by train.

Funk said city leaders
would like to see the rail stop stay put. He said relocating the station to
Del. 72 would create traffic challenges because the route to get there winds
through residential areas.

Increased service by
Amtrak, SEPTA and other providers would be an important advantage in attracting
tenants to the Chrysler site and to other parts of the city, said Vidadi
Yusibov, executive director of the Fraunhofer USA Center for Molecular
Biotechnology. The Fraunhofer center is located at UD’s Delaware Technology
Park on the southeastern edge of Newark, but Yusibov said the company often has
to meet outside contacts in Wilmington because more trains stop there.

"You’re dealing with a
category of people who count the minutes in their schedules," Yusibov
said. "For them, [the question of] ‘Do I have to fly’ and ‘Does someone
have to meet me at the airport?’ or ‘Can I fly to BWI and take the train to campus?’
means a lot."