TINA MARKOE/Courier-Post Donald Nigro, president of Delaware Valley Association of Rail Passengers, encourages well-planned rail links and mass transit.

By KEVIN RIORDAN
Courier-Post Staff

Please don't think of the Delaware Valley Association of Rail Passengers as a bunch of rail buffs.

Nostalgia for the railroads of old has little to do with DVARP's mission to retain, enhance and expand passenger rail service in South Jersey and Southeastern Pennsylvania.

"We don't really like to be called rail enthusiasts or rail romancers," says longtime DVARP member James Thornton of Carneys Point. "If we seek out the past, it's to compare it to the present."

The 500-member organization sees passenger railroads - a network of which once linked the Shore, the tri-county area and Philadelphia - as a tool for circumscribing suburban sprawl, protecting the environment and improving the region's quality of life, primarily by reducing traffic congestion. DVARP is ever-vigilant, monitoring mass transit agencies such as Amtrak and NJ Transit for even minor changes in service, never hesitating to offer its opinions.

"We're an advocacy group," DVARP president Donald Nigro says, "a watchdog group. And much more than that."

Adds Nigro, a 37-year-old Collingswood resident who commutes to Center City on the PATCO High-Speed Line, "We do the analysis work. We analyze data from public sources and whistleblowers and professionals. We never divulge our sources. And if our analysis shows it's silly to put a rail line down the middle of I-295, we'll put that right back in the (transit planner's) face."

Although it rarely holds demonstrations, the private, nonprofit, all-volunteer DVARP does have a bit of an in-your-face attitude. It pulls no punches in its insistence that the High-Speed Line, once envisioned as a tri-county system, be expanded; that railroad rights-of-way in Ocean City and other Shore towns be maintained; and that NJ Transit's Atlantic City rail line be better marketed.

And those are just some of the issues on this side of the Delaware River. DVARP is mounting a full-court press against plans by Philadelphia's SEPTA system to build a $1.4 billon light-rail line to Reading, Pa. Characteristically, DVARP is arguing for simpler, incremental, lower-cost alternatives to the so-called Schuylkill Valley Metro project, alternatives that could potentially free up money to revive and extend other segments of SEPTA's commuter rail system.

DVARP's aggressive posture is best reflected in The Delaware Valley Rail Passenger, its comprehensive and well-written monthly publication. According to a front page story in the November issue, "While DVARP would love for residents of the Schuylkill Valley to have service as fast and frequent as the light rail planners envision, we take a realistic view of what is attainable, and we think that a sensible rail system serving more people is better than a gold-plated one serving only the few."

Such outspokenness has earned DVARP the enmity of some in the railroad business, who characterize the organization as too narrowly focused, too zealous - perhaps even petty.

But John Dawson, senior transportation planner for the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, says DVARP does its homework. It also has a seat on the agency's citizen advisory committee.

"Whether you like their opinions or not," he says, "they've generally been a strong voice."

SEPTA spokeswoman Barbara A. Siegel adds, "We have a longstanding relationship with them. They often attend our public hearings. They have made many recommendations, several of which we have incorporated . . . Their members are very knowledgeable."

Says Matthew Mitchell, a 38-year-old, Glenside, Pa., technology assessment professional who has edited the newsletter since 1992, "We try to maintain a constructive approach. There are complicated issues, and some of our opponents have good arguments. What we point out is, we have better arguments . . . The respect that we have comes from the hard work our people do."

On a recent Saturday morning, Nigro, a software developer, hosted a meeting of DVARP's New Jersey Committee at his Collingswood home. He and committee chairman Bill Ritzler, a communications technician, and Owen Robatino, a professional transportation planner in Delaware, sat at the dining room table.

"The first thing on the agenda is Camden-Trenton," Nigro says, referring to NJ Transit's proposed $600 million, diesel-powered light-rail line between the state capital and the Camden Waterfront.

Although it would have preferred a conventional railroad rather than light-rail service, which resembles a trolley system, DVARP supports the controversial Camden-Trenton line. It wants the Trenton terminus extended to the capitol building itself. But the committee members don't buy the $40 million estimated price tag on the extension.

"Ridiculous," Nigro says.

"Excessive," Ritzler adds.

DVARP has written to NJ Transit requesting information. It's also lobbying in connection with the proposed construction of a truly functional interchange at the melange of Route 42 and I-76 and I-295 in Camden County.

Because that project would utilize federal transportation funds, alternatives for ameliorating the congestion problem must, by law, be examined as well. DVARP hopes this will force transportation agencies to take a serious look at expanding commuter rail service into Gloucester County.

And DVARP very much wants any such line to offer "single seat" or through service to Center City Philadelphia, meaning it would have to be compatible with all or part of the PATCO Hi-Speed Line. That's because transfers, which would be necessary between the Camden-Trenton line and PATCO for Philadelphia-bound passengers, discourages potential riders.

Ritzler, 35, lives in Pitman. He has been a DVARP member for seven years and was drawn to the organization because mass transit relates to "sustainable development" and other issues he cares about.

"People should realize how much more congestion they would have to tolerate if there wasn't rail," Ritzler says.

He insists, however, that DVARP is not about forcing people out of their SUVs and onto trains.

"It's about providing a choice," Ritzler says.

Says Thornton, who's 38 and formerly worked for Conrail, "We shouldn't be dependent only on the automobile."

Although support for passenger rail and other forms of mass transit is often seen as a liberal notion, Nigro notes that some prominent conservatives are taking a fresh look at the issue. A study by the Free Congress Foundation, a conservative think tank, cites transit's potential to foster economic development as well as "a sense of community."

Rail buffs do belong to DVARP, and their support is welcome, notes Mitchell, the newsletter editor.

"But so many of them are mired in the past," he says. "We're trying to make sure their children will have a train."