By RICHARD PEARSALL
Courier-Post Staff
NJ Transit is expected to announce an opening date for its South Jersey light rail line - and a new name for the 34-mile route - when the board of the public transportation agency meets today in Newark.
Executive Director George Warrington is expected to make the announcements.
While there are indications the line will not open until early next year, including a financial document that says just that, transit officials continue to say "wait and see."
They confirm that a new name has been selected to replace the admittedly awkward Southern New Jersey Light Rail Transit System or SNJLRTS (pronounced "Snidgle-ritz").
In floating a bond issue to refinance the line, the state Economic Development Authority noted that "the SNJLRTS is anticipated to begin revenue service in the first quarter of 2004."
But NJ Transit officials have downplayed the significance of that statement.
"That was a conservative statement for a financial document going to prospective investors," Lynn Bowersox, a spokeswoman for the public transportation agency, said earlier this month. "It was not meant as an operational forecast."
The line was originally scheduled to begin operating between Camden and Trenton by the first day of 2003.
The date has been pushed back several times, from season to season, which has left transit officials reluctant to release another forecast until they are sure they can meet the date.
Testing of the system and its diesel cars is the biggest remaining obstacle to opening, transit officials acknowledge.
Construction costs, originally pegged at $450 million when the agency was selling the line to residents along the Burlington County riverfront, is now estimated by transit officials at just under $1 billion.
Reach Richard Pearsall at (856) 486-2465 or rpearsall@courierpostonline.com
