Princeton train riders sue over relocating Dinky train station

A citizen group is suing Princeton University over the fate of a beloved train station.  The lawsuit attempts to stop the school from moving the Dinky train station into a new building a short distance away.”Save the Dinky” lawyer Bruce Afran said the University is in the wrong and is being selfish, by moving the station by about 500 feet.”It means taking away a fundamental part of the community and the resolution from New Jersey Transit in 1984 actually says the purpose of selling the land to the University was because the University intended to preserve it,” said Afran.Princeton University vice president and secretary Bob Durkee disagreed.”The University and New Jersey Transit have an agreement that goes back to 1984 that allows the University at some point to relocate the station for the Dinky train – which is on University land to the south,” said Durkee.   “We have a proposal to relocate it about 460 feet to the south, which we’re allowed to do under the agreement.”

Durkee said moving the station will allow the school to build a new arts complex, and to build an additional ramp to a parking garage which he said will benefit people stopping by nearby arts events and restaurants.  He said moving the station could help increase ridership for the Dinky.Durkee said the school has a strong stake in preserving the Dinky and the move could increase ridership.

“More than half of the Dinky riders are either affiliated with the university or attending events at the University,” he said.  “In moving the station a little bit to the south we’re also proposing constructing a new station building for the train and to position the station in the middle of a very lively new arts district. Lawyer Bruce Afran, from “Save the Dinky,” said the move would damage a piece of history.

“It will take away a historic locale and to move it to a place no longer visible from any neighborhood, that’s a lose to the community.  A train station is a central focus of the town’s history.”The Dinky connects Princeton Boroough with the Northeast Corridor line, and in turn New York and Philadelphia.