The Glassboro train station, also known as the West Jersey Depot, was built in the 1860s and abandoned in 1971.

By Mark Berkey-Gerard

Beginning tonight, area residents can attend a series of open houses to learn more about a proposed light rail line that would run from Glassboro to Camden.

However, the plan - which also calls for improvements to the Atlantic City Rail Line and express bus service along Routes 55 and 42 — is not entirely new. It is an attempt to recreate a service that existed nearly a century ago.

Southern New Jersey once boasted an extensive network of train lines that connected the Delaware River waterfront to dozens of towns and the Jersey shore.

In 1861, passengers took the first train ride from Glassboro to Camden, according to the book The Glassboro Story by Robert Bole. In 1917, the state selected Glassboro as the location for a new teacher training school — which later became Glassboro State College and today is Rowan University — in part because more than 100 trains a day ran through the depot.

In the 1960s, as we all know, automobiles ownership increased, the suburbs expanded, train ridership dropped, and transportation funding shifted to road and highway construction. The Glassboro to Camden train made its last passenger run in 1971, although the line is still used for freight.

The new PATCO light rail plan faces many questions and obstacles, including how to the state will pay for $1.3 billion in construction and an estimated $29 million a year in operating costs. Similar efforts have been proposed and defeated, most recently in 1996. However, Governor Jon Corzine supports it and has set aside $500 million in financing.

The Delaware River Port Authority will host four open houses, beginning tonight, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

• June 10, Rutgers University-Camden, Main Lounge, Campus Center, 326 Penn St., Camden.
• June 11, Woodbury Junior-Senior High School Cafeteria, 25 N. Broad St.
• June 17, Camden County College, Civic Hall, 200 College Dr., Blackwood.
• June 18, Rowan University, Chamberlain Student Center, 201 Mullica Hill Rd., Glassboro.

For more information on the events, call 856-968-2252 or visit www.drpa.org

Mark Berkey-Gerard is an assistant professor of journalism at Rowan University in Glassboro, N.J.