Delaware & Raritan River Railroad
FARMINGDALE, N.J. — The Delaware & Raritan River Railroad has completed its “F&S Connection,” a 5-mile track rehabilitation project between Freehold and Farmingdale, through Howell, N.J. The project was finished nine months ahead of schedule.
DRR ran a test train over the rebuilt track on Sept. 15, 2023, marking the first train to run through between Freehold and Farmingdale since 1985. Regular train service on the line ended with Penn Central in 1975, and will resume early this month.
The project, which links the railroad’s Freehold and Southern branches, began in January 2023 and included vegetation clearing, six upgraded crossings, 25,000 track feet of relayed rail, and 12,500 new ties, including over 8,000 steel ties.
In addition to linking the railroad’s two branches, the project reroutes freight trains off New Jersey Transit’s busy North Jersey Coastline, opens the Southern branch for heavier 286,000-pound cars, consolidates interchange with Conrail Shared Assets at Jamesburg, and provides a shorter and faster route for customers in Monmouth and Ocean counties.
The $12 million project was funded in large part by the New Jersey Department of Transportation Rail Freight Assistance Program, and the state’s grade crossing improvement funds. Work yet to be completed under the project will include the south leg of the Farmingdale Wye, siding construction and rehabilitation, and grade crossing improvements in Freehold, Howell, and Shrewsbury.
Tracks Unlimited of Mountainside and Railroad Construction of Paterson were the low bid contractor’s that provided materials, equipment, administration, design assistance, and agreement labor to rebuild the tracks and crossings.
“This is such a great public/private project with benefits to the community, customers, and railroads alike,” Delaware & Raritan River President Kean Burenga said in a news release. The railroad will mark the completion of the F&S Connection with the driving of the last spike by Farmingdale Mayor Jim Daly and Howell Mayor Theresa Berger near Academy Street Oct. 13, 2023 at 1:00 p.m. The event is open to the public and will include railroad displays, remarks by dignitaries, and live music until 5:00 p.m.
The Delaware & Raritan Freehold Branch was built in 1851 by the Jamesburg & Freehold Agricultural Railroad, from a junction with the Camden & Amboy Railroad (New Jersey’s first railroad) to Sea Girt. In 1871 it became part of the Pennsylvania Railroad.
The Southern Branch was built by the Raritan & Delaware Bay Railroad Company and completed to Lakewood in 1860. It became the Southern Main of the Central Railroad of New Jersey in 1879 and was the route of the famous Blue Comet passenger train which operated between Jersey City and Atlantic City.
Delaware & Raritan River Railroad is a wholly owned subsidiary of Chesapeake & Delaware LLC. It operates and leases 50 miles of freight trackage in Middlesex, Monmouth, and Ocean counties from Conrail and New Jersey Transit. Via Conrail Shared Assets the Delaware & Raritan has interchanges with CSX and Norfolk Southern. Chesapeake & Delaware operates 208 route miles of railroad in New Jersey, including wholly owned Delaware & Raritan River, Dover & Delaware River, and Dover & Rockaway River. Affiliates include Belvidere & Delaware River Railway and Black River & Western Railroad. Chesapeake and Delaware LLC was formed in 2017.
