MOM is a proposed rail line that will become a new branch of New Jersey Transit. It will provide modern commuter train service connecting inland communities in Ocean, Monmouth and Middlessex Counties with Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor. MOM will use existing rail lines, most of which are still being used by freight trains of Conrail Shared Assets. Passenger trains will originate in Lakehurst and run in a roughly northerly direction, serving the communities of Manchester, Toms River, Jackson, Lakewood, Howell and Farmingdale. From that point, it remains to be decided exactly which way the trains will go to reach the Northeast corridor. Monmouth and Ocean County officials (and NJ-ARP) favors the Freehold-Jamesburg route.

MOM will alleviate traffic congestion, notably on Route 9, and resulting pollution and productivity losses in this fast-growing area. With transit-oriented development, MOM could drive growth to transit villages in or near local urban centers and away from threatened farmland and other open space. By doing so, MOM will help generate growth, jobs, investment and tax revenues in communities with high unemployment.

The MOM Passenger Rail Project is currently dormant. It is believed that the official Environmental Impact Statement was finally completed after years of work, but to our knowledge the results and conclusions of the study were never published. No sources of funding have yet been identified.

In the past, there was opposition to the Monmouth Junction Alignment by NIMBYs in Jamesburg and Monroe Township. In addition, negotiation on the route itself reached a dead-end due to lack of consensus among the counties involved. Perhaps only the state Governor has the authority, power and influence to choose one of the three routes – ideally the Monmouth Junction Alignment – and overrule the opponents. It is to be hoped that the Governor will finally gather the courage and fortitude to do so.