NJT DLRV train crossing Rancocas Creek Bridge (bet. Riverside and Delanco). This bridge is newly built for the Riverline replacing an old Pennsylvania Railroad bridge. Photo by Lee Winson, 2005.

Overview

The River Line is a diesel light rail line connecting the cities of Camden and Trenton, New Jersey. It passes through several suburban communities on its route, including Bordentown, Burlington, Delanco, Cinnaminson, and Pennsauken. The River Line began service on Sunday, March 14, 2004, after a day of VIP runs and opening ceremonies on March 13.

The scenery is varied: street running, rural running, old abandoned factories, and railroad yards with plenty of freight cars with diesel power waiting to turn their wheels overnight.

The NJT River Line was the first system to adopt the diesel LRV vehicle. It was thought that this would inspire other transportation planners to consider it, and in fact, a handful of other cities have adopted DLRV vehicles since then, including Austin, TX. The DLRV vehicle was a less expensive way of getting service started (it did not require catenary or electric substations to be constructed) and it is thought that the lower cost might mitigate some of the other drawbacks suffered by the River Line system, namely a high number of grade crossings, and sharing operation with freight railroads.

Roster

The River Line uses Stadler GTW 2/6 DMU (diesel multiple unit) cars. The nomenclature 2/6 indicates that two of the six axles are powered. The vehicle is more than 65% low floor. Similar GTW units are in use in Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, Greece, Slovakia, Germany and Switzerland. The River Line cars are numbered 3501-3520 and are often operated in two-car trainsets.

Station By Station

Trenton. Two tracks, two side platforms. Even though the line ends here, there are two separate platforms. Money could have been saved and convenience increased by having built a single island platform instead. Each platform has just one ticket machine which makes ticket lines longer than they could be. South/west of the station there is a small shed to keep Trenton lay-ups under cover.

Bordentown. At Bordentown there is a nice view of the marina on the Delaware River.

Riverside Riverside has a traditional small town downtown area. The new River Line service may bring the potential to gentrify the downtown into a "funky" area similar to Manayunk in Philadelphia.

Walter Rand Transportation Center (Camden). At Walter Rand TC, transfer may be made to the PATCO High-Speed Line to Philadelphia and Lindenwold. Note that this major transfer point is not the end of the line in Camden. South of Walter Rand TC there is a section of street running.

Track Map

Photo Gallery

Five Random Images
Image 42993 (190k, 1044x788) Photo by: Richard Panse Location: Trenton	Image 50424 (166k, 1001x851) Photo by: Herman R. Silbiger Location: Walter Rand Transportation Center (Camden)	Image 67971 (42k, 903x437) Photo by: Bob Wright Location: Walter Rand Transportation Center (Camden)	Image 67980 (41k, 1066x427) Photo by: Bob Wright Location: Entertainment Center (Camden)	Image 67984 (60k, 1040x744) Photo by: Bob Wright Location: Entertainment Center (Camden)