Bay Head | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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 The Bay Head Station train yard in August 2025. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| General information | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Osborne Avenue Bay Head, New Jersey 08742 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 40°04′34″N74°02′47″W / 40.07611°N 74.04639°W /40.07611; -74.04639 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Owned by | NJ Transit | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Platforms | 1side platform | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tracks | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Construction | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Parking | Yes | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bicycle facilities | Yes | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Accessible | No | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other information | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Station code | 23 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fare zone | 23 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Opened | August 1, 1882[2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rebuilt | 1976[3] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Electrified | No | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Previous names | Bay Head Junction | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Passengers | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2024 | 141 (average weekday)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Services | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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Bay Head is a railway station inBay Head, inOcean County,New Jersey,United States. The station is served by trains onNJ Transit'sNorth Jersey Coast Line, and it is the southern terminus for the line. The rail yard contains 33 acres (13 ha) ofwetland inside theloop formed by the tracks used to turn around the trains.[4] The rail yard borders Twilight Lake. Parking is free at the Bay Head station although the lot is only about a fourth of the size of the lot at the next station,Point Pleasant Beach, which requires payment.[5]
This station is not listed as disabled accessible by NJ Transit. Passengers must use the train stairs to climb up to the cars or descend to street level. There is no ramp or platform to aid the handicapped in boarding. Weekend ridership to the Bay Head station rises during the summer as beachgoing vacationers take the train to the beach.[6] In May 2011, ticket vending machines were installed next to the station building at Bay Head.
On the morning of December 1, 1946, a fire destroyed the Pennsylvania Railroad's trestle acrossBarnegat Bay inSeaside Park. The 300-foot (91 m) section of the wooden structure caught fire, requiring firefighters from Seaside Park andOcean Gate to spend over six hours dousing the inferno. As a result of the response, the fire damage was limited to the center part of the span, interrupting rail service between Bay Head andToms River. At Toms River, buses would take passengers toLong Branch. The damage in total ruined all the pilings and railroad ties in the original 300-foot (91 m) section and warped much of the rails on the trestle.[7]
Service to Bay Head after the fire became bus only for Pennsylvania Railroad customers from Camden as trains 994, 995, 998 and 999 only operated to station atPemberton. From there, a bus would take the passengers to Bay Head.[8] Passenger service would continue to Barnegat Pier from Toms River until December 14, 1948, at which point all the tracks between Toms River and Bay Head were abandoned.[9]
The station has a low-level side platform serving trains in both directions, most trains also use track one, the doors open at the street.
Media related toBay Head (NJT station) at Wikimedia Commons
