ANDOVER TOWNSHIP The township committee on Monday endorsed NJ Transit’s plan to bring commuter train service to the area via the defunct Lackawanna Cutoff rail line, and urged the governments of New Jersey and Pennsylvania to speed things up. The long-awaited project took a big step forward last week, when the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority signed off on the first phase of the project, which will extend service as far as Andover. The NJTPA’s nod of approval is significant because it frees up NJ Transit, which has already begun design work, to seek $36.6 million in federal funding that had been earmarked for the project by Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-11th Dist.). NJ Transit ultimately wants to extend passenger service as far west as Scranton, Pa., but this first step will bring just 7.3 miles of new track from Port Morris, near the Lake Hopatcong station on the Montclair-Boonton line, to a new Andover station. NJ Transit plans to build the station on the south side of Roseville Road, just off Andover-Mohawk road within the existing right of way. “Creating passenger rail service on the Lackawanna Cutoff is essential for the future of Sussex County and the larger region,” Sussex County Freeholder Susan Zellman of Stanhope, the NJTPA’s chair, said last week. “It will help us combat congestion, improve air quality and enhance the region’s economy.” Monday night’s resolution by the township committee contained similar sentiments, though focused more on the plight of commuters along the Route 80 corridor. “It is in the interest of the health, safety and general welfare” of area residents “for this restoration project to progress and continue as quickly as possible,” the resolution said. The 28-mile cutoff, built a century ago, had passenger service until 1970 and shut down completely in 1982. The tracks were torn up a few years later. Plans for restoring it for commuter service have been around since at least 2001, when the state Department of Transportation bought the old right of way. The long-term project, which also envisions a commuter station in Blairstown and several in Pennsylvania, is estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars and will likely take at least several more years to complete. But now, at least, the notion of commuting by train from Andover seems that much closer to reality. A vague concern that the line might someday be used for freight or hazardous materials was voiced by Committeeman Alex Gilsenan, but the fact the line will connect to the passenger-only NJ Transit system put those fears to rest.