NJ Transit Rail Operations


NJ Transit Rail Operations is the rail division of NJ Transit. It operates commuter rail service in New Jersey, with most service centered on transportation to and from New York City, Hoboken, and Newark. NJ Transit also operates rail service in Orange and Rockland counties in New York under contract to Metro-North Railroad. The commuter rail lines saw riders in, making it the third-busiest commuter railroad in North America and the longest commuter rail system in North America by route length.

History

The lines operated by NJ Transit were formerly operated by the Pennsylvania Railroad, Central Railroad of New Jersey, New York and Long Branch Railroad, and Erie Lackawanna Railroad, most of which date from the mid-19th century. From the 1960s onward, the New Jersey Department of Transportation began funding the commuter lines.
By 1976, the lines were all operated by Conrail under contract to NJDOT. NJDOT began rehabilitating the electrification systems on the current day Hoboken Division; this involved converting the system from 3 kV DC to 25 kV 60 Hz AC. Furthermore, Arrow III cars were ordered to replace the aging fleet of MUs inherited from the Erie Lackawanna Railroad.
Following the Northeast Rail Service Act of 1981 which required Conrail to abandon or transfer its commuter rail services to state agencies, NJ Transit Rail Operations took control of on January 1, 1983.
In 1984, the aforementioned rehabilitation project was finally completed. The Erie Lackawanna MUs were retired after their final run on August 23, 1984 and were replaced with Arrow IIIs.
In 1988, electrification was extended from Matawan to Long Branch on the North Jersey Coast Line.

1990s and 2000s

NJ Transit greatly expanded and consolidated its rail system in the 1990s and early 2000s.
On September 9, 1991, the Waterfront Connection opened allowing diesel trains running on the Pennsylvania Railroad mainline to access Hoboken Terminal. Complementing the Waterfront Connection, the Kearny Connection, which is electrified, opened on June 10, 1996 allowing M&E trains to access New York Penn Station. NJ Transit christened the new service as Midtown Direct.
On September 30, 2002, the Montclair Connection opened which connects the former end of the Montclair Branch to the old Boonton Line. This consolidated the Montclair Branch and Boonton Line operations; the new consolidated service was named the Montclair Boonton Line. Following this change, some trains were rerouted to terminate at Penn Station along with the opening of a yard at Great Notch.
Secaucus Junction was opened on December 15, 2003, connecting the two commuter networks in northern New Jersey for the first time. This allowed commuters on trains bound for Hoboken to transfer to New York Penn Station bound trains thus saving commuters an estimated 15 minutes transferring to PATH trains at Hoboken.
NJ Transit took over Clocker service from Amtrak on October 31, 2005. While four trains were added to the schedule, service was cut back from Philadelphia to Trenton.

2010s

On September 29, 2016, Pascack Valley Line train #1614 overran the end of the track and went into the concourse coming to rest just before the waiting room wall. Both the terminal and the cabcar sustained major structural damage.

2020s

On December 19, 2025, there was a head on collision between two trains along the Montclair-Boonton Line west of Bay Street station resulting in 17 injuries.

Network and infrastructure

The system took its current form in 1983, when NJ Transit took over all commuter service in New Jersey. NJ Transit Rail Operations is divided into the Hoboken Division and the Newark Division. The two networks were not integrated until the opening of Secaucus Junction in 2003, which enabled passengers to transfer between lines bound for New York and Hoboken.

Lines

As of 2022, NJ Transit's commuter rail network consists of 13 lines and 165 stations, primarily concentrated in northern & central New Jersey, with one line running in South Jersey between Atlantic City and Philadelphia.

Current lines

Operations are in two divisions:

Freight usage

Although NJ Transit itself does not carry freight, NJTR allows freight service to be operated over its lines via trackage rights agreements with several railroads. Conrail Shared Assets Operations, CSX, Norfolk Southern and several short lines, Dover and Delaware River Railroad, Morristown & Erie Railway, and Southern Railroad of New Jersey currently have trackage rights contracts to operate freight service on NJ Transit lines. The Morristown & Erie Railway can only use NJT trackage to get between its owned trackage; it cannot serve customers on NJ Transit trackage. A similar situation exists for Conrail on the Atlantic City Line.
Below is a list of NJ Transit lines and freight lines that operate on them:i
  • Morristown Line: DD, M&E
  • Montclair-Boonton Line: DD, M&E
  • Main Line: NS, M&E
  • Bergen County Line: NS, M&E
  • Pascack Valley Line: NS
  • Raritan Valley Line: CSAO
  • North Jersey Coast Line: CSAO
  • Atlantic City Line: CSAO, SRNJ

Non-passenger lines

NJTR also owns several lines not used for regular passenger service. These lines were purchased by the New Jersey Department of Transportation in the late 1970s for railbanking purposes, with ownership transferring to NJ Transit upon its creation in 1979. These lines are either leased for freight/tourist service, interim rail trail use, or remain derelict:
-South Lakewood: Conrail Shared Assets Operations, Delaware and Raritan River Railroad

Ownership

NJT owns most of its tracks, infrastructure, bridges, tunnels and signals. The exceptions are:

Yards and maintenance

NJ Transit's main storage and maintenance facility is the Meadows Maintenance Complex in Kearny, New Jersey. Other major yard facilities are located at Hoboken Terminal. Amtrak's Sunnyside Yard in Queens, New York serves as a layover facility for trains to New York Penn Station. Additional yards are located at outlying points along the lines. These include:
NJT has a fleet of maintenance crews and vehicles that repair tracks, spread ballast, deliver supplies and inspect infrastructure. There are eight non-revenue work diesels used for these purposes.

Movable bridges

NJT utilizes numerous moveable bridges:

Rolling stock

NJ Transit operates a fleet of 175 locomotives and over 1,200 passenger cars.

Passenger cars

NJ Transit has a fleet of over 1,100 passenger cars. The fleet and examples are described below.
Builder and modelPhotoNumbersTotalBuilt
GE Arrow III1304–133330 single cars 1977
GE Arrow III1334–1533200 paired cars 1977
Bombardier Comet II5300–5460161 trailers 1982–1989
Bombardier Comet IV5011–503121 cab cars 1996
Bombardier Comet IV5235–526430 trailers 1996
Bombardier Comet IV5535–558248 trailers 1996
Alstom Comet V6000–608384 cab cars 2002–2004
Alstom Comet V6200–621314 trailers 2002–2004
Alstom Comet V6500–6601102 trailers 2002–2004
Bombardier MultiLevel Coach7000–705152 cab cars 2006–2010
Bombardier MultiLevel Coach7200–729899 trailers 2006–2010
Bombardier MultiLevel Coach7500–7677178 trailers 2006–2010
Bombardier MultiLevel Coach II7052–706110 cab cars 2012–2013
Bombardier MultiLevel Coach II7678–776790 trailers 2012–2013

Stations

NJ Transit provides passenger service on 12 lines at total of 165 stations, some of which are operated in conjunction with Amtrak and Metro-North.