NJ Transit Rail Operations

19th century

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.

20th century

In the 1960s, 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.

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 the Midtown Direct.

21st century

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 (NY-Philadelphia) service from Amtrak on October 31, 2005. While four trains were added to the schedule, service was cut back from Philadelphia to Trenton.

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

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.

In 2025, beginning on May 16 and ending on May 18, all train operations temporarily ceased due to a strike by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen.

In April 2026, NJ Transit received the first of more than 300 new Bombardier MultiLevel railcars, which will replace the older Arrows that have frequently caused delays due to mechanical failures and limited equipment availability.

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:

• Hoboken Division, formerly operated by the Erie Lackawanna Railroad, runs from Hoboken Terminal through Newark Broad Street or the lower level of Secaucus Junction to points north and west. Midtown Direct service operates on the Morris & Essex and Montclair-Boonton lines to New York via the Kearny Connection. Most station platforms are low-level. Diesel trains consist of Comet V or MultiLevel coaches pushed/pulled by GP40/F40, PL42AC, or ALP-45DP locomotives, and electric trains use Arrow III EMUs. Midtown Direct trains consist of either Comet IIM/IV cars (with a Comet V cab) or MultiLevel Coaches pushed/pulled by an ALP-45DP or ALP-46.
• 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 Amtrak's 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. Trains usually consist of either Comet IIM/IV cars (with a Comet V cab) or MultiLevel Coaches pushed/pulled by an ALP-45DP or ALP-46, except for the Atlantic City Line which primarily uses GP40s. All Princeton Branch and some weekday NEC/NJCL trains use Arrow III EMUs.

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 (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

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:

• 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
• 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

Ownership

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)

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:

• 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.

Movable bridges

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)
  • Portal North Bridge is a replacement adjacent to original Portal Bridge
• 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 operates a fleet of 175 locomotives and over 1,200 passenger cars.

Locomotives

Passenger cars

NJ Transit has a fleet of over 1,100 passenger cars. The fleet and examples are described below.

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 (MNCW).