TheRaritan Valley Line is acommuter rail service operated byNew Jersey Transit (NJT) which serves passengers in municipalities inUnion,Somerset,Middlesex,Essex, andHunterdon counties in theRaritan Valley region, primarily incentralNew Jersey and a smaller portion ofnorthern New Jersey, in theUnited States. The line's most frequent western terminus isRaritan station inRaritan. Some weekday trains continue farther west and terminate at theHigh Bridge station, located inHigh Bridge. Most eastbound trains terminate inNewark; passengers are able to transfer toNJ Transit using a combined ticket orPATH (rail system) andAmtrak to New York City. A limited number of weekday trains continue directly to New York.
Raritan Valley Line trains use three lines owned by three entities. Between High Bridge and theAldene Connection, east ofCranford, it uses the formerCentral Railroad of New Jersey Main Line, now owned by New Jersey Transit and also called the Raritan Valley Line. From the Aldene Connection toHunter it usesConrail'sLehigh Line, formerly the east end ofLehigh Valley Railroad Main Line. Finally, it usesAmtrak'sNortheast Corridor from the Hunter Connection to Newark and New York.
The Raritan Valley Line is colored orange on New Jersey Transit's system map, and its symbol is theStatue of Liberty, an homage to the Central Railroad of New Jersey, whose logo was also the Statue of Liberty.[4]
Most of the line follows the main line of the formerCentral Railroad of New Jersey. Historically, CNJ trains ran on this line, as part of its Lehigh-Susquehanna Division, fromScranton,Wilkes-Barre,Allentown,Bethlehem andEaston in eastern Pennsylvania throughElizabeth andBayonne toJersey City. In peak years of service the line was the basis for trains such as theQueen of the Valley and theHarrisburg Special, reaching as far west asHarrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Until 1967 CNJ service terminated at the company'sCommunipaw Terminal in what is todayLiberty State Park.[5] This station, which was also served byReading Company trains toPhiladelphia andB & O service toWashington, D.C., and beyond, had connections by chartered bus or ferry into Manhattan.
At the end of April 1967, theAldene Connection opened, connecting the CNJ main line to theLehigh Valley Railroad (nowConrail'sLehigh Line), and trains were re-routed toNewark Penn Station on theNortheast Corridor viaHunter Connection. This allowed CNJ to end the ferry service between Jersey City and Manhattan, which was losing money.[6]
The former CNJ Main Line was conveyed toConrail on the former's bankruptcy in 1976. Conrail sold the line to the state of New Jersey in 1978 but continued to operate commuter service under contract.[7] Service on the line was cut back from Phillipsburg to High Bridge on January 1, 1984.[8]
Trains initially could not go beyond Newark Penn Station to New York Penn Station because the locomotives were diesel-powered, and diesel locomotives cannot operate in theNorth River Tunnels. The introduction ofALP-45DP dual-mode locomotives allows for direct service toNew York Penn Station.[9] Limited service to New York Penn Station started as a pilot program on March 3, 2014. Select trains provide one-seat rides to New York. This original "pilot project" schedule has been subsequently expanded to include additional trains, but is limited to off-peak hours due to capacity issues in the Hudson River tunnels.
Unlike the Northeast Corridor, the majority of stations on the Raritan Valley Line are notwheelchair accessible. Newark Penn Station, Union, Cranford, Westfield, Plainfield, and Somerville are accessible high-platform stations. Roselle Park has a high platform but does not have a ramp or elevator to the street.[10]
In September 2018, all Raritan Valley Line service was truncated to Newark Penn Station to allow forpositive train control installation. Direct service to New York resumed on November 4, 2019.[11]
Since it is not electrified, the Raritan Valley Line requires diesel locomotives. The locomotives originally consisted of theGP40PH-2(A and B) andAlstom PL42AC with a 5- or 6-car set ofComet series coaches. Since late 2008,Bombardier Multilevel Series Coaches were added and displaced most of the Comet coaches. As of late 2013, the trainsets' consist use anALP-45DP and a 6- to 8-car set of Multilevels. However, some occasional trains use the Comet coaches coupled with a PL42AC or an ALP-45DP. SomeGE P40DC locomotives were occasionally used on the line between 2007-2009.
With the initiation of select, direct, service to New York Penn Station on the Raritan Valley Line in March 2014, dual-mode Bombardier ALP-45DP locomotives (combination diesel and electric power) were added to the RVL rolling stock to incorporate the "one seat ride" betweenRaritan/High Bridge andPenn Station in New York. Switching of modes is performed at Newark. The line's rolling stock is stored at the Raritan Yard, the line's only rail yard, located just west of the station of the same name. All eastbound trains change crews here and trains are normally stored here overnight. This is also one of four fueling facilities for NJT locomotives, the other three being Hoboken Terminal, Port Morris, and the Meadows Maintenance Complex. All trains terminating in Newark head to the Meadows Maintenance Complex inKearny, New Jersey to be stored.
In May and June 2018, NJ Transit leased 10MARC coaches to be exclusively operated on the Raritan Valley Line. These cars have since been sent back to MARC.[12]
Service beyondHigh Bridge toPhillipsburg Union Station inPhillipsburg was discontinued in December 1983 because of low ridership.[13] Then, in November 1989, theNew Jersey Department of Transportation (NJ DOT) severed the rail line betweenAlpha and Phillipsburg during construction ofI-78. This was done in order to avoid having to build an overpass over the out-of-service trackage.[14]
Since 1984, there have been repeated calls for resumption of service to Phillipsburg to relieve traffic congestion on the parallel I-78 andU.S. Route 22. The Raritan Valley Rail Coalition, formed in 1998 by the late U.S. CongressmanBob Franks, sought cost-effective ways to improve mobility, reduce highway congestion, and increase transit ridership along the Raritan Valley Line. Their study was completed in January 2010.[15] In addition, real estate developers have touted former industrial hub Phillipsburg as an excellent candidate for restored commuter rail service, saying "P'burg. . .a good candidate for rail service..."[16]
NJ Transit has been responsive to the idea, and initiated anenvironmental impact statement. It was determined that service restoration will take approximately four years and cost $90 million.[citation needed]
In 2010, Easton Mayor Sal Panto Jr. promoted the restoration of rail service to Easton or Phillipsburg and possibly Allentown or Bethlehem.[17]
In 2021, Amtrak placed service to Allentown via the Raritan Valley Line in their 2035 plan.
Another plan that has been proposed is to restore service on the former Reading Railroad's Jersey City branch track betweenEwing andBound Brook which is the current dayCSX TransportationTrenton Subdivision, the NJ Transit rail service on the Trenton Subdivision would be NJ Transit's version of theWest Trenton Line, providing a direct link to theSEPTA service of the same name and establishing an additional link toPhiladelphia. To date, no funding for the proposal has been secured.[18]
| State | Zone[19] | Location | Station[19] | Miles (km) fromPennsylvania Station[2] | Date opened | Date closed | Connections / notes[19] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NY | 1 | Manhattan | Pennsylvania Station | 0.0 (0.0) | 1910 | Amtrak (long-distance):Cardinal,Crescent,Lake Shore Limited,Palmetto,Silver Meteor Amtrak (intercity):Acela,Adirondack,Carolinian,Empire Service,Ethan Allen Express,Keystone Service,Maple Leaf,Northeast Regional,Pennsylvanian,Vermonter Long Island Rail Road:Babylon,Belmont Park,City Terminal Zone,Far Rockaway,Hempstead,Long Beach,Montauk,Oyster Bay,Port Jefferson,Port Washington,Ronkonkoma,West Hempstead branches NJ Transit Rail:Gladstone,Montclair-Boonton,Morristown,Northeast Corridor,North Jersey Coast lines New York City Subway:1, 2, and 3 (at34th Street – Penn Station (Seventh Avenue)),A, C, and E (at34th Street – Penn Station (Eighth Avenue)) New York City Bus:M7,M20,M34 SBS,M34A,Q32 Academy Bus:SIM23,SIM24 Flixbus:Eastern Shuttle Vamoose Bus | |
| NJ | Secaucus | Secaucus Junction | 5.0 (8.0) | December 15, 2003[20] | NJ Transit Rail:Bergen County, Gladstone,Main,Meadowlands, Montclair-Boonton, Morristown,Pascack Valley, Northeast Corridor, and North Jersey Coast lines Metro-North Railroad:Port Jervis Line NJ Transit Bus:2,78,129,329,353 | ||
| Newark | Pennsylvania Station | 10.0 (16.1) | 1935[21][22] | Amtrak (long-distance):Cardinal,Crescent,Palmetto,Silver Meteor,Silver Star Amtrak (intercity):Acela Express,Carolinian,Keystone Service,Northeast Regional,Pennsylvanian,Vermonter NJ Transit Rail: North Jersey Coast and Northeast Corridor lines PATH:Newark – World Trade Center Newark Light Rail: Grove Street – Newark Penn, Broad Street – Newark Penn NJT Bus:1,5,11,21,25,28,29,30,31,34,39,40,41,44,62,67,70,71,72,73,76,78,79,108,308,319,361,375,378,go25,go28 Greyhound Lines | |||
| South Street | |||||||
| 5 | Union | Union | 15.3 (24.6) | April 28, 2003[23] | NJ Transit Bus:26,52 | ||
| 7 | Roselle Park | Roselle Park | 17.2 (27.7) | February 3, 1891[24] | NJ Transit Bus:94,113 | ||
| Cranford | Cranford | 19.2 (30.9) | January 1, 1839[25] | NJ Transit Bus:59,113 Olympia Trails: Westfield Commuter Service | |||
| 8 | Garwood | Garwood | 20.4 (32.8) | August 1892[26][27] | |||
| Westfield | Westfield | 21.6 (34.8) | January 1, 1839[25] | ||||
| Graceland | c. 1891[28] | by 1912[29] | |||||
| 9 | Fanwood | Fanwood | 23.7 (38.1) | January 1, 1839[25] | NJ Transit Bus:113 Olympia Trails: Westfield Commuter Service | ||
| 10 | Plainfield | Netherwood | 25.0 (40.2) | 1874[30] | NJ Transit Bus:113,882 Olympia Trails: Westfield Commuter Service | ||
| 11 | Plainfield | 26.2 (42.2) | January 1, 1839[31] | NJ Transit Bus:59,65,66,113,114,819,822,896 | |||
| Grant Avenue | 1885[32] | April 26, 1986[33] | |||||
| Clinton Avenue | 1872[32] | April 30, 1967 | |||||
| 12 | Dunellen | Dunellen | 29.1 (46.8) | January 1, 1840[25] | NJ Transit Bus:59,65,66,113,114 Suburban Trails: Dunellen Local | ||
| 13 | Middlesex | Middlesex | c. 1893[34] | 1972 | |||
| 14 | Bound Brook | Bound Brook | 33.3 (53.6) | January 1, 1840[25] | Somerset County Transportation: DASH | ||
| 15 | Bridgewater | Bridgewater | 34.5 (55.5) | Known as Calco from 1915[35]–1996 | |||
| Finderne | Finderne | 1851[35] | 2006 | Closed due to low ridership | |||
| 17 | Somerville | Somerville | 37.8 (60.8) | January 1, 1842[25] | NJ Transit Bus:65,114 | ||
| Raritan | Raritan | 39.0 (62.8) | c. 1851[36] | ||||
| 18 | North Branch | North Branch | 42.5 (68.4) | September 25, 1848[25][37] | |||
| 19 | Whitehouse Station | White House | 47.4 (76.3) | September 25, 1848[25] | |||
| 20 | Lebanon | Lebanon | 51.1 (82.2) | July 4, 1852[38] | |||
| Annandale | Annandale | 53.5 (86.1) | |||||
| 21 | High Bridge | High Bridge | 55.3 (89.0) | 1852[39] | |||
| Glen Gardner | Glen Gardner | July 4, 1852[38][40] | January 1, 1984[8] | The station was known as Clarkville from 1852–November 1864 and Spruce Run until the early 1870s.[40] | |||
| Hampton | Hampton | ||||||
| Bethlehem Township | Ludlow–Asbury | c. 1852-1854[41] | 1967 | ||||
| Bloomsbury | Bloomsbury | July 4, 1852[38][42] | |||||
| Phillipsburg | Union Station | July 4, 1852[38][43] | January 1, 1984[8] |
| Hoboken Division |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Newark Division | ||
| Connections | ||
| Current rolling stock | ||
| Bridges and tunnels |
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| Stations and yards | ||
| Proposed lines | ||
| Other topics | ||
