Newark Light Rail

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Newark Light Rail
standard gauge
Minimum radius33 ft (10.058 m)[5]
ElectrificationOverhead line, 750 V DC
Operating speed50 mph (80 km/h)
Route map

The Newark Light Rail (NLR) is a

Broad Street station.[6][7] The City Subway opened on May 16, 1935, while the combined Newark Light Rail service was officially inaugurated on July 17, 2006.[3]

Newark City Subway

Newark Penn Station
in 2001, signed as 7 City Subway.

The Newark City Subway is the longer and older of the two segments.[8] It is a "subway–surface" line[9] which runs underground from Penn Station to Warren Street, and above-ground north of Warren Street. Before becoming a part of the Newark Light Rail service, it was also known as the #7-City Subway line, an NJT Bus Operations route number carried over from its days when it was part of Public Service's Transport of New Jersey subsidiary. The number still applies internally. During subway system closures, replacement buses would also bear the route number "7 City Subway".

The segment is 5.3 mi (8.5 km) long and runs between Grove Street in

New Jersey Transit Rail Operations
trains.

History

See also: List of Public Service Railway lines
Newark City Subway leaving Park Street station on September 3, 1965

The line opened in 1935 along the old

right-of-way
and did not share city streets with local traffic, except at the Orange Street grade crossing.

Operation of the complete subway to the newly built Penn Station was delayed until 1937. The terminal below Penn Station has five tracks, two incoming and three outgoing, connected by two loop tracks. This part of the subway included a grade-separated junction with a connection to the lower level of the Newark Public Service Terminal that was used for only a few months (June to September).

Newark City Subway at the Franklin Avenue station, 1965

An extension to a wooden station at North 6th Street or Franklin Avenue was opened in 1940, located north of the present Branch Brook Park station. In 1953 the line was cut back about one block to accommodate construction of a turning loop, and a new station, still called Franklin Avenue, was opened adjacent to Anthony Street. The station was enlarged in 2002 and renamed Branch Brook Park.

The subway was operated by Transport of New Jersey (formerly Public Service Coordinated Transport) as its No. 7 line. Other streetcar routes used parts of the subway, reaching street trackage at the locations shown below, ending as each route was closed and replaced by bus service:

  • Cedar Street Subway
    ), 1937 only: #13 Broad, #17 Paterson, #27 Mount Prospect, #43 Jersey City
  • Warren Street ramp, 1935–1951: #21 Orange—West Orange via Market Street
  • Central Avenue ramp, 1935–1947: #23 Central
  • Orange Street crossing, 1935–1952: #21 Orange—West Orange via Orange Street
  • Bloomfield Avenue ramp, 1935–1952: #29 Bloomfield

Until June 5, 1952, the

Roseville Car House, on the south side of Main Street (on the No. 21 line) near the eastern city line of East Orange
, was used for the No. 7 line. From that time until 2002, Newark Penn Station was used for storage and maintenance. A new shops and yard complex opened at the end of the extension to Grove Street.

Starting in January 1954, 30

Shaker Heights Rapid Transit
in 1978.

New Jersey Transit
took over operations in 1980.

In 2001, new light rail cars built by Kinki Sharyo in Japan in 1999 replaced the PCCs. The last day of PCC service was August 24, 2001.[11]

The former PCC railcar No. 7 from the subway located on the property of the New York Museum of Transportation

Some of the PCCs are stored in the Newark City Subway shop. Eleven were sold in 2004 to the San Francisco Municipal Railway for use on its F Market heritage streetcar line.[12] One PCC, #15, was delivered to the Connecticut Trolley Museum in 2013 for restoration and display. One of the Shaker Heights cars has been restored by the Minnesota Transportation Museum, which operates it on a short stretch of track in western Minneapolis.

In 2005, eight PCCs were given to the City of

Hudson-Bergen Light Rail.[13]

On September 4, 2004, Broad Street Station was renamed Military Park Station, to avoid confusion with the terminal of the new route to the

Newark Broad Street Station
at University Avenue, operated by New Jersey Transit.

Orange Street platform view to U-Haul and formerly Tung-Sol Electric

Bloomfield extension

The former Heller Parkway station in February 2015

On June 22, 2002, the Newark City Subway was extended to the suburbs of

at-grade.[14]

Shared-track operation

The original agreement gave sole operating privileges to Norfolk Southern between 11 pm and 5 am daily, but a new agreement allows passenger service to operate at all hours, with late-night service commencing on January 8, 2005. In exchange, Norfolk Southern can now operate during all off-peak hours, when passenger trains are infrequent.

Broad Street Extension

Send in the Clowns
", part of the tribute to Sarah Vaughan built into every station along this line

The Broad Street Extension is the second segment of the Newark Light Rail. It was planned as the first phase of the

Broad Street Station. It branches off the older City Subway using the existing junction that had led to the Public Service terminal.[15]

A new tunnel leads from the junction to a portal about two blocks north. The remaining section runs above ground. For a few blocks, the two tracks run on different streets a block or two apart. Both tracks serve the

Washington Park. The extension opened on July 17, 2006.[3][16][17]

Construction began in 2002 with an estimated cost of $207.7 million, or about $40,000 per foot of track;[18] it was completed within budget.[19] Projections were for 4,000 average weekday boardings after one year, growing to about 7,000 in 2010. Actual weekday boardings in 2010 for both Newark Light Rail lines combined were reported at 9,000.[20]

The art work at the new stations has a common theme, "Riding with Sarah and Wayne." It is a tribute to Newark-born jazz greats

Send in the Clowns
," and colored bricks representing the music notes.

The Broad Street Extension was intended to ease connections between Newark's two rail stations. The two separate stations are a legacy of their roots in two separate railroads. Broad Street Station was once owned by the Lackawanna Railroad and its successor, the Erie Lackawanna Railway, while Penn Station was built and owned by the Pennsylvania Railroad. Previously, passengers wanting to transfer between Amtrak and the former PRR/Conrail commuter lines and the former (Erie) Lackawanna commuter lines had to make their own way (usually by taxi or bus) between the two stations.

Fares

The Newark Light Rail is equivalent to a one-zone bus ride: a one-way ticket costs $1.60 (as of October 1, 2015), and is valid for one hour on the entire system from the time the ticket is validated. A special $0.75 "Underground" fare is available for trips that use the subway only between Warren Street and Penn Station and not the surface portion. Through-ticketing is available for connecting bus routes. Monthly and weekly NJ Transit bus and rail passes valid for one or more local bus zones, as well as transfers purchased on buses, are also accepted.[21]

Ticket validator at a Newark Light Rail station

The Newark Light Rail, like most light rail systems in the United States, operates on a

LRVs
, when proof-of-payment fare collection was instituted.

Stations

Newark Light Rail
Legend
Watsessing Avenue
NJT Montclair-Boonton Line
proposed extension
Orange Branch
 Grove Street
   
 Silver Lake
Orange Branch
 Branch Brook Park
Heller Parkway
 Davenport Avenue
 29┃Bloomfield Avenue 
 Bloomfield Avenue
Park Avenue
I-280.svg I-280
 21┃Orange via Orange 
 Orange Street
 23┃Central Avenue 
 Norfolk Street
Warren Street/NJIT
 21┃Orange via Market 
 Washington Street
Military Park
NJT Morristown Line &
Montclair-Boonton Line
 Newark Broad Street
    NJ Transit
NJT Morristown Line &
Montclair-Boonton Line
Riverfront Stadium
Harriet Tubman Square┃Atlantic Street
Cedar Street Subway
 NJPAC/Center Street
Public Service Terminal
Northeast Corridor
to Boston
PATH to World Trade Center
 Newark Penn Station
 
 
NJ Transit Port Authority Trans-Hudson Amtrak
Northeast Corridor
to Washington
Key
light rail & rapid transit
main line & commuter rail
former
surface
lines
Newark City Subway
Broad Street Extension

Newark City Subway

Location Station Opened Closed Transfers Notes
Newark Penn Station June 20, 1937 Buses:
PATH trains to Jersey City, Hoboken, New York City, Amtrak to Philadelphia
and points south, and New York Penn Station and points north
Military Park May 26, 1935[23] NJ Transit buses:
108

ONE Bus: 24, 44 		Formerly Broad Street until September 4, 2004;[24] served the Newark Public Service Terminal
Washington Street NJ Transit buses:
11, 28, 29, 70, 72, 76, and 78
; ONE Bus: 44 (inbound only)
Warren Street/NJIT NJ Transit buses:
71, 73, and 79
 The station was renamed in 2011 to Warren Street/NJIT from Warren Street.[25]
Norfolk Street NJ Transit buses:
99

ONE Bus: 24, 44
Orange Street NJ Transit buses:
71, 73, 75
Park Avenue NJ Transit buses:
41
Bloomfield Avenue
 NJ Transit buses:
11, 28, 29, 72
Davenport Avenue
Heller Parkway
 May 26, 1935[23] June 21, 2002[26] Closed for consolidation with Franklin Avenue station by Branch Brook Park.[26]
Branch Brook Park November 22, 1940[27] NJ Transit buses:
27, 74, 90, 92, 99
 Formerly known as North Sixth Street and Franklin Avenue, the latter until August 27, 2001.[28]
Belleville Silver Lake June 22, 2002[26] NJ Transit buses:
27, 90
Bloomfield Grove Street NJ Transit buses:
11, 28, 29, 72, 90

Broad Street Extension

All stations are in Newark.

Station Opened Transfers Notes
Penn Station June 20, 1937 Buses:
PATH trains to Jersey City, Hoboken, New York City, Amtrak to Philadelphia
and points south, and New York Penn Station and points north
NJPAC/Center Street July 17, 2006[29]
Line splits into one-way directions
Harriet Tubman Square
 July 17, 2006[29] NJ Transit buses:
11, 13, 27, 28, 29, 39, 41, 59
 Southbound-only stop
Atlantic Street
 Northbound-only stop
Riverfront Stadium
Lines re-converge entering Broad Street
Broad Street
 July 17, 2006[29] NJ Transit buses:
108
NJ Transit rail: Gladstone Branch, Montclair-Boonton Line, Morristown Line

On weekdays, service operates separately between the two sections. On weekends, service operates jointly.

Rolling stock

The Newark Light Rail system uses a new-model vehicle built by

Hudson-Bergen Light Rail system, although the ones used on the Newark Light Rail were built with slight modifications to the trucks and wheels due to the different rails used. Like the HBLR vehicles, the NLR vehicle is a double-articulated vehicle with three sections. Each of the two end sections has an operator's cab at the far end, thus eliminating the need for the vehicle to turn itself around physically in order to reverse direction. Each end section also has seating for 16 passengers on an upper level, and seating for 13 passengers on the lower level, including one special fold-down seat next to an empty space that a passenger using a wheelchair may use. With these two sections, and a middle section that seats ten passengers (five on each side), the vehicle can comfortably accommodate 68 seated passengers and two wheelchairs. An additional 122 passengers could stand in the vehicle, if necessary. Vehicles can be coupled into two-unit sets. A contract to expand 10 of the 20 LRVs assigned to the Newark Light Rail system for the purpose of increasing passenger capacity was approved on July 9, 2014.[30]

The Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, ME acquired PCC #5 in 2011.[31] The car represents the first piece of NJT rolling stock in the museum's collection. The car is currently undergoing restoration and rehabilitation work so that it may operate on the museum's 1+1⁄2-mile demonstration railway. Car #5 joins the museum's already-extensive collection of PCC cars from numerous cities, including Boston, Pittsburgh, Dallas, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Kansas CIty.

Timeline

Accidents

The Newark City Subway has had a few accidents over the years:

In popular culture

  • In November 2011 scenes for the movie
    Military Park station.[40]

See also

References

  1. ^ "NJ Transit Facts At a Glance Fiscal Year 2019" (PDF). NJ Transit. July 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 26, 2019. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
  2. ^ Pirmann, David & Darlington, Peggy (2012). "world.nycsubway.org: Newark, New Jersey Light Rail/City Subway". nycsubway.org. David Pirmann.
  3. ^ a b c "Newark light rail set to open july 17". NJ Transit. June 22, 2006. Archived from the original on May 21, 2013. Retrieved August 7, 2013.
  4. ^ "NJ Transit Facts At a Glance Fiscal Year 2014" (PDF). NJ Transit. March 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 6, 2015. Retrieved April 2, 2015.
  5. ^ On line pubs TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 1995]
  6. ^ "Newark Light Rail" (PDF). New Jersey Transit. August 2008. Archived from the original (PDF map) on March 3, 2016. Retrieved September 6, 2015.
  7. New Jersey Transit. January 2014. Archived from the original
    (PDF map) on July 24, 2014. Retrieved September 6, 2015.
  8. ^ See Riley, John Harrington, "The Newark City Subway Lines," (1987). This scarce book, which covers the history of the subway lines and the predecessor horse and trolley lines, is occasionally available on Amazon.
  9. ^ John W. Schuman; n, Louis T. Klauder (1978). "Evaluations of Operating Light-Rail Transit and Streetcar Systems in the United States". TRB Special Report. 182 (Light Rail Transit: Planning & Technology): 94.
  10. ^ "Light Rail Spurs New Development". NJDOT.org. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
  11. ^ "Farewell to Newark PCCs" (October 2001). Tramways & Urban Transit, p. 386. Ian Allan Publishing.
  12. ^ "Historic Streetcars in San Francisco". Market Street Railway. Retrieved April 1, 2013.
  13. ^ Peninsula at Bayonne Harbor development plan Archived June 20, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, page 17, accessed July 25, 2006
  14. ^ Staff. "Subway extension to open in summer, Newark officials hope that the $207.7 million downtown project will help spur a renaissance.", The Philadelphia Inquirer, February 13, 2006. Accessed July 18, 2011. "The last major expansion of the 4.3 mile subway in 2002 brought the service into the neighboring cities of Belleville and Bloomfield."
  15. ^ Jacobs, Andrew (October 18, 2000). "Paths of Transit: Once Forgotten, Bound for Duty; Sealed Tunnels Unearthed for Rail System in Newark". The New York Times.
  16. ^ "Capital Improvement Program - System Expansion Projects - Extension of the Newark Light Rail (NLR) to Newark Broad Street Station". NJ Transit. August 2006. Retrieved August 7, 2013.
  17. ^ a b Klufas, Michael (August 24, 2001). "NJ TRANSIT OFFICIALS, CUSTOMERS, TROLLEY ENTHUSIASTS SAY GOODBYE TO NEWARK CITY SUBWAY'S PCC CARS - New Light Rail Vehicles to Begin Service August 27". NJ Transit. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved September 6, 2015. Press Release 323.
  18. ^ NJ TRANSIT Department of Capital Planning and Programs. "Extension of the Newark Light Rail (NLR) to Newark Broad Street Station". NJ Transit. Archived from the original on June 17, 2009. Retrieved September 6, 2015. Project 005.
  19. ^ Stessel, Dan (July 17, 2006). "NEWARK LIGHT RAIL OPENS TO SUPPORT CITY'S ECONOMIC REVITALIZATION - Connects Newark's two train stations through business district". Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved September 6, 2015. Press Release NJT-06-092, ID 2246.
  20. ^ New Jersey Transit. Njtransit.com. Retrieved on June 23, 2014.
  21. ^ "Newark Light Rail" (PDF). New Jersey Transit. April 7, 2018. Retrieved December 19, 2018.
  22. ^ "Light Rail Tickets". New Jersey Transit. Retrieved August 27, 2022.
  23. ^
    The Asbury Park Evening Press. May 27, 1935. p. 17. Retrieved January 14, 2020 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  24. ^ a b "Customer Notice - Newark City Subway Broad Street Station Renamed Military Park Station". NJ Transit. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved September 6, 2015. Customer Notice 1227.
  25. ^ Heyboer, Kelly (March 4, 2011). "Warren Street stop on Newark Subway line to get $40K makeover with help of NJIT student". The Star-Ledger. Retrieved March 5, 2011.
  26. ^ a b c "Two New Stations to Open on the Newark City Subway". New Jersey Transit (Press release). Newark, New Jersey. June 18, 2002. Retrieved January 15, 2020.
  27. ^ a b "UrbanRail.Net > North America > USA > New Jersey > Newark City Subway, PATH and Hudson-Bergen Light Rail".
  28. ^ "NJ Transit to Retire Newark City Subway PCC Cars in Late August". New Jersey Transit (Press release). Newark, New Jersey. August 9, 2001. Retrieved January 15, 2020.
  29. ^ a b c "Broad Street Extension of Newark Light Rail Celebrates 10 Years". New Jersey Transit (Press release). Newark, New Jersey. July 18, 2016. Retrieved January 15, 2020.
  30. ^ Douglas John Bowen (July 9, 2014). "NJT OKs LRV add-ons - Railway Age". railwayage.com.
  31. ^ Seashore Trolley Museum: Browse the Collection. Trolleymuseum.org. Retrieved on June 23, 2014.
  32. ^ "Plan Newark Subway". The New York Times. December 23, 1910.
  33. ^ Klufas, Michael (August 27, 2001). ""NEW" NEWARK CITY SUBWAY DEBUTS - Smooth, Air-Conditioned Light Rail Vehicles Carry Customers in 21st Century Comfort". NJ Transit. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved September 6, 2015. Press Release 326.
  34. ^ a b "TWO NEW STATIONS TO OPEN ON THE NEWARK CITY SUBWAY - Expanded Service Begins/Weekend Service Resumes on June 22". NJ Transit. June 18, 2002. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved September 6, 2015. Press Release 510.
  35. ^ "NEWARK CITY SUBWAY EXTENDS LATE NIGHT SERVICE, IMPROVES EFFICIENCY - Extra 2 hours of service to Grove Street begins January 8". NJ Transit. December 29, 2004. Archived from the original on November 13, 2006. Retrieved September 6, 2015. Press release NJT-04-084.
  36. ^ "Subway Crash Hurts 9 at Terminal in Newark". The New York Times. September 22, 1981. Retrieved July 20, 2011.
  37. ^ "Truck slams into Newark subway train". Star-Ledger. Newark. April 16, 2003.
  38. ^ Mazzola, Jessica (August 28, 2014). "Service delayed after NJ Transit light rail, SUV crash in Newark". NJ.com.
  39. ^ "No one hurt after car strikes Newark Light Rail". WABC. April 6, 2016.
  40. ^ Mike Frassinelli (February 10, 2013). "Holy subway, Batman! A hidden world of clean, on-time riding exists beneath Newark". The Star-Ledger. Retrieved May 17, 2013.
Bibliography
  • Edward Hamm, Jr., The Public Service Trolley Lines in New Jersey.
  • DOT Docket FRA-2000-7335-7 and −8.

External links

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