NJ Transit Rail Operations

As of 2012, NJ Transit's commuter rail network consists of 11 lines and 164 stations,[2] primarily concentrated in northern New Jersey, with one line running between Atlantic City and Philadelphia.

Operations are in two divisions:

• Hoboken Division, formerly operated by the Erie Lackawanna Railroad, runs from Hoboken Terminal or through Newark – Broad Street and includes Midtown Direct service via the Kearny Connection. Most station platforms are low-level.
• Newark Division, formerly operated by the Pennsylvania Railroad, Central Railroad of New Jersey and New York and Long Branch Railroad, operates through Newark Penn Station via the Northeast Corridor, with most trains continuing to New York Penn Station. This division also includes the Atlantic City Line formerly operated by the Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines. Most station platforms are high-level.

Morristown and Erie Railroad, one of the freight operators authorized to operate on the NJ Transit system, crossing the Passaic River in Roseland

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 (CSAO), CSX, Norfolk Southern (NS) and several short lines (Cape May Seashore Lines (CMSL), Dover and Delaware River Railroad (DD), Morristown & Erie Railway (M&E), and Southern Railroad of New Jersey (SRNJ) 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:

• 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

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:

• Harrison-Kingsland Branch: derelict
• Raritan Valley Line:
  • High Bridge-Bloomsbury: NS
  • Bloomsbury-Phillipsburg: trackage removed due to construction of Interstate 78 in 1989
• Red Bank -South Lakewood: Conrail Shared Assets Operations (CSAO), Delaware and Raritan River Railroad
• Woodmansie-Winslow Junction: derelict
• Beesley's Point Secondary:
  • Winslow Junction-Palermo/Beesley's Point: CSAO, Cape May Seashore Lines
  • Palermo-Ocean City: leased to city of Ocean City in 1999 for use as interim Ocean City Bike Path rail trail
• Tuckahoe-Cape May: Cape May Seashore Lines, Southern Railroad of New Jersey
• HX Interlocking (Hackensack River)-Croxton Yard: realigned for Secaucus Junction, used as yard lead by NS
• Freehold-Farmingdale: derelict
• Freehold-Matawan: leased to Monmouth County Park System until 2020 as interim section of Henry Hudson Trail

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

• Atlantic City Line – Philadelphia 30th Street Station to Frankford Junction (owned by Amtrak) and Frankford Junction to Pennsauken Delair Junction (owned by Conrail)
• Northeast Corridor Line – entire line except Morrisville Yard (owned by Amtrak)
• Port Jervis Line – Suffern to Port Jervis (owned by Norfolk Southern and leased by Metro-North)
• Raritan Valley Line – Aldene to Hunter (owned by Conrail)
• Montclair-Boonton Line – West of Netcong (owned by Norfolk Southern)

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:[3]

• Main and Bergen County Lines:
  • Waldwick Yard
  • Suffern Yard
• Montclair-Boonton Line:
  • Great Notch Yard, Little Falls
• Morris and Essex Lines:
  • Gladstone Yard
  • Summit Yard
  • Dover Yard
  • Port Morris Yard
• North Jersey Coast Line:
  • Long Branch Yard
  • Bay Head Yard
• Northeast Corridor:
  • Morrisville Yard, Morrisville, PA (near the Trenton Transit Center)
  • County Yard, New Brunswick (near Jersey Avenue)
  • Hudson Yard, Harrison (Serves mostly Raritan Valley Line trains)
• Pascack Valley Line:
  • Woodbine Yard, Spring Valley, NY
• Port Jervis Line:
  • Port Jervis Yard, Port Jervis, NY
• Raritan Valley Line:
  • Raritan Yard
  • Hudson Yard, Harrison (Shared with Northeast Corridor)

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.

NJT utilizes numerous moveable bridges:

• Dock Bridge, Newark (Passaic River) – Northeast Corridor Line (vertical lift) (owned and operated by Amtrak)
• Portal Bridge, Secaucus (Hackensack River) – Northeast Corridor Line (swing) (owned and operated by Amtrak)
• Newark Draw, Newark (Passaic River) – Morristown Line (swing)
• Lower Hack Lift, Jersey City (Hackensack River) – Morristown Line (vertical lift)
• Upper Hack Lift, Secaucus (Hackensack River) – Main Line (vertical lift)
• HX Draw, Secaucus (Hackensack River) – Bergen County Line and Pascack Valley Line (bascule)
• Lyndhurst Draw, Lyndhurst (Passaic River) – Main Line (swing)
• River Draw, South Amboy (Raritan River) – North Jersey Coast Line (swing)
• Morgan Draw, Old Bridge (Cheesequake Creek) – North Jersey Coast Line (bascule)
• Oceanport Draw, Oceanport (Oceanport Creek) – North Jersey Coast Line (swing)
• Shark River Draw, Belmar (Shark River) – North Jersey Coast Line (bascule)
• Brielle Draw, Brielle (Manasquan River) – North Jersey Coast Line (bascule)
• Beach Bridge, Atlantic City (Beach Thorofare) – Atlantic City Line (swing)
• Delair Bridge, Pennsauken (Delaware River) – Atlantic City Line (vertical lift) (owned and operated by Conrail)

NJ Transit has a fleet of over 1,200 passenger cars. The fleet and examples are described below.

Builder and model	Photo	Numbers	Total	Built
GE Arrow III		1304–1333	30 single cars (no lavatory)	1977
		1334–1533	200 paired cars (lavatory in odd cars)
Bombardier Comet II		5300–5460	161 trailers (no lavatories)	1982–1989
Bombardier Comet IV		5011–5031	21 cab cars (lavatory)	1996
		5235–5264	30 trailers (lavatory)
		5535–5582	48 trailers (no lavatory)
Alstom Comet V		6000–6083	84 cab cars (lavatory)	2002–2004
		6200–6213	14 trailers (lavatory)
		6500–6601	102 trailers (no lavatory)
Bombardier MultiLevel Coach		7000–7051	52 cab cars (lavatory)	2006–2010
		7200–7298	99 trailers (lavatory)
		7500–7677	178 trailers (no lavatory)
Bombardier MultiLevel Coach II		7052–7061	10 cab cars (lavatory)	2012–2013
		7678–7767	90 trailers (no lavatory)