Raritan Valley train

Passengers wait for the first one-seat ride on the Raritan Valley Line on March 3, 2014.

(File photo)

Passengers on NJ Transit's Raritan Valley line will have to wait longer still for direct evening train service to New York.

NJ Transit Executive Director Veronique Hakim told the agency's board of directors today that a planned expansion of the one-seat service, originally scheduled for November, would have to wait because of budgetary constraints.

At this time we will not be able to expand the #RVL direct service to NY during weekday evenings due to budgetary constraints #BoardDay — NJ TRANSIT (@NJTRANSIT) October 8, 2014

However we are looking into potential alternate funding sources in the future to expand the #RVL direct service to NY #BoardDay — NJ TRANSIT (@NJTRANSIT) October 8, 2014

Since March, some weekday, off-peak trains running to and from New York Penn Station on the Raritan Valley line have been transfer-free.

At all other times of day, passengers must disembark and switch to another train in Newark.

The direct service, which has boosted ridership by about 60 passengers per day, was slated to be expanded to evenings in November, according to the Raritan Valley Rail Coalition.

NJ Transit posted to Twitter that the expansion was no longer possible, "due to budgetary constraints."

"However we are looking into potential alternate funding sources in the future to expand the #RVL direct service to NY," a second post continued.

A spokeswoman for NJ Transit said that the one-seat expansion was brought up during the meeting as part of the director's report.

"As the agency begins to plan its Fiscal Year 2016 budget, we found that the nearly $600,000 in additional annual cost to operate this service presents a real monetary challenge, given the current very tight fiscal constraints facing NJ Transit and the State, and the need to budget responsibly," the report reads.

According to the report, the agency plans to look for other funding sources, potentially including the same type of federal money that paid for the addition of one-seat service to the Jersey Shore earlier this year.

Originating in High Bridge, Raritan Valley trains travel through Hunterdon, Somerset, Middlesex and Union counties.

The line is not electrified, so passengers take diesel trains to Newark Penn Station. There, they board an electric-powered train, because diesel ones can't operate in the tunnel under the Hudson River.

Dual-powered locomotives are used for the one-seat trips.

The Raritan Valley Rail Coalition is scheduled to discuss the status of the planned one-seat expansion at an Oct. 27 meeting at the Cranford Community Center.

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Katie Lannan may be reached at klannan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @katielannan. Find NJ.com on Facebook.