Five towns have lost their initial bid to block freight trains from rolling through Union County on reactivated lines.

On Friday, Dec. 5, 2003, NJ Superior Court Assignment Judge Edward W. Beglin Jr. dismissed all but one of the claims brought by five Union County towns – Roselle, Roselle Park, Kenilworth, Springfield and Summit – against the County and the Morristown & Erie Railway in an effort to stop the reactivation of rail freight lines.

The one remaining count will not stand in the way of the project. Judge Beglin held that the towns could pursue a claim that Union County Freeholders violated the NJ Open Public Meetings Act at a June 5 meeting. The judge was compelled to allow both sides 30 days to further research the matter. If the County is found to have violated the Act, it may be forced to hold the meeting again – an inconsequential outcome as far as the rail project goes.

The Staten Island Railway, which runs from Cranford to Linden, and the Rahway Valley Line, running from Cranford to Summit, had been dormant for nearly a decade, but in May 2002, the County contracted with M&E to rehabilitate and use the lines. The project moved forward until this summer when the five towns filed their claims.

Among the litany of claims that were dismissed, the towns had alleged that the County violated the Public Contracts Act and that the towns should be viewed as parties to any contract between the County and the railroad.

A leader of "Stop The Train," a group opposed to the project, told the Star-Ledger the towns plan to appeal the ruling and file claims with the U.S. Surface Transportation Board.

Meanwhile, M&E has already spent $3.6 million on the project and plans to have the Staten Island Railway running by next year and the Rahway Valley Line finished by 2005. Both lines will operate at relatively low volumes, serving industrial sites in Union County. The reactivated line will not serve the Howland Hook container terminal, because a key section of track is missing. Howland Hook is being linked to busier freight lines and yards in the port district by a separate Port Authority project. 

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