New Jersey Transit opened a new segment of its Hudson-Bergen light rail system, extending the line north from Hoboken station into Weehawken. Three new stations were opened ― two on Hoboken’s west side and one on the Weehawken waterfront. The extension is 1.6 miles in length. Work on a further section north from Weehawken continues ― it will allow the line to reach Union City, West New York and North Bergen.

The line now sees about 17,000 riders per day, according to New Jersey Transit. That level is about 13% higher than in mid-2003, and Transit says it expects weekday use to reach 20,000 next year.

A variety of options for extending the system to suburban areas in Bergen County and to the Meadowlands Xanadu site are under discussion, but no hard funding is in hand for now.

Two other new rail lines are attracting more riders than officials initially projected. The Trentonian reported recently that New Jersey’s newest light rail, Camden-Trenton River Line, has nearly met ridership goals for its first year despite just opening in March. The one-year goal was 5,900 one-way riders, and the new line showed an average of 5,600 in mid-August. The train provides good transfers to NJ Transit and SEPTA commuter trains in Trenton and is close to the Philadelphia-NJ PATCO line in Camden. The paper said the line is already attracting business to the area, especially to Riverside, where a variety of competing development proposals have emerged.

The NYPost reported that the ridership for AirTrain, the light-rail connection between LIRR trains, subways and JFK Airport terminals, is growing every month. The service that began has grown from about 5,000 daily riders last winter to 8,000 this July and August. The peak was set on July 2 with 10,627 rides, and the Port Authority spokesman Pasquale DiFulco states that the train is on track to meet its ridership projection for the first year at 11,000 riders per day.

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