View source for Lehigh Line Connection

{{Short description|Railroad junction in New Jersey, between the Raritan Valley Line and Northeast Corridor}}
{{Other uses|Lehigh Line (disambiguation){{!}}Lehigh Line}}
{{Coord|40.7130|-74.1866|name=Hunter Connection (NJT)|display=title}}
[[File:Lehigh valley bridge over NEC from air at hunter connection.jpeg|thumb|right| The pre-1997 connection is at bottom left of photo looking east; the new connection was built just to the north.]]
{{NJ Transit Newark/Hoboken Division approaches}}
The '''Lehigh Line Connection''' connects Amtrak's [[Northeast Corridor]] (NEC) with the [[Conrail]] [[Lehigh Line (Conrail)|Lehigh Line]] {{Convert|2|miles|km}} south of downtown [[Newark, New Jersey]]. It leaves the NEC at Hunter Interlocking, and the line is sometimes called the '''Hunter Connection'''. Used by [[New Jersey Transit]] (NJT) [[Raritan Valley Line]] trains since 1997 when it replaced an older connection,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/06/09/nyregion/farewell-to-a-railroad-tower.html|title=Farewell to a Railroad Tower|last=Newman|first=Andy|date=June 9, 1997|work=The New York Times|access-date=December 21, 2017|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> it splits from the NEC just north of the former connector, with wider radius curves with a maximum speed of 45 mph, compared to the 15 mph of the original alignment. 

The old connection had a single track with older overhead wire and [[Pennsylvania Railroad]] (PRR) signaling. Until 1961 [[Lehigh Valley Railroad]] (LV) passenger trains bound to/from [[Pennsylvania Station (New York City)|New York Penn Station]], such as the ''[[Black Diamond (train)|Black Diamond]]'', used the connection to reach their own railroad from the PRR main line. At the top of the hill at NK interlocking, LV diesels exchanged the train(s) with PRR electric locomotives.{{fact|date=January 2011}} Despite the lack of [[railway electrification system|electrification]] on the line past the connection, the new trackage is also equipped with [[overhead lines|catenary wire]].

[[Amtrak]] and NJT have proposed constructing the Hunter Flyover, which would carry Newark-bound Raritan Valley Line trains up and over the six-track NEC main line. Currently, Raritan Valley trains heading toward Newark have to cross three or four tracks at grade to access the eastbound tracks at Newark. This [[Overpass|flyover]] would remove many directional conflicts between trains and reduce delays on the NEC. The project would cost $250 million and is currently undergoing environmental analysis.<ref>{{cite web   | title = NEC INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS OF RELEVANCE TO NEW JERSEY| publisher = ARP| date = January 2013| url = http://www.nj-arp.org/Assets/nec%20infrastructure%20projects%20of%20relevance%20to%20nj.pdf| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220514015118/http://www.nj-arp.org/Assets/nec%20infrastructure%20projects%20of%20relevance%20to%20nj.pdf|accessdate = January 19, 2016| archive-date = 14 May 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://raritanvalleyrail.com/1087-2/|title=Importance of the Renewal of Transportation Trust Fund to RVRC - Raritan Valley Rail Coalition|date=July 30, 2016|work=Raritan Valley Rail Coalition|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181123112125/https://raritanvalleyrail.com/1087-2/ |access-date=December 21, 2017|archive-date=23 November 2018 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nec-commission.com/cin_projects/hunter-flyover/|title=Hunter Flyover|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171222052131/http://www.nec-commission.com/cin_projects/hunter-flyover/ |language=en-US|access-date=December 21, 2017|archive-date=22 December 2017 }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{HAER|survey=NJ-103|id=nj1745|title=Pennsylvania Railroad, Hunter Interlocking Tower}}

{{New Jersey Transit Rail}}

[[Category:Historic American Engineering Record in New Jersey|Pennsylvania Railroad, Hunter Interlocking Tower]]
[[Category:NJ Transit Rail Operations]]
[[Category:Rail junctions in the United States]]
[[Category:Rail infrastructure in New Jersey]]


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