Bergen County Line facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Bergen County Line
Train #1253 departs Glen Rock–Boro Hall.
Overview
Owner	New Jersey Transit (Hoboken Terminal to Suffern) Norfolk Southern Railway (Suffern to Port Jervis, leased to and maintained by Metro-North Railroad)
Locale	Northern New Jersey
Termini	Hoboken Terminal Waldwick or Suffern
Stations	12 (to Waldwick) 18 (service to Suffern)
Service
Type	Commuter rail
System	New Jersey Transit Rail Operations Metro-North Railroad
Operator(s)	New Jersey Transit
Rolling stock	F40PH-3C/GP40PH-2/ALP-45DP/PL42AC locomotives Comet V/Multilevel coaches
Daily ridership	4,305
Technical
Track length	152.9 km (95.0 mi)
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)

The Bergen County Line is a commuter rail line and service owned and operated by New Jersey Transit in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The line loops off the Main Line between the Meadowlands and Glen Rock, with trains continuing in either direction along the Main Line. It is colored on NJT system maps in grey, and its symbol is a cattail, which are commonly found in the Meadowlands where the line runs.

Some trains of Metro-North Railroad's Port Jervis Line also operate over the line. The Norfolk Southern Railway provides freight service along the line via trackage rights.

As on the Main Line, trains are powered by diesel locomotives operated push-pull, consisting of Comet or MultiLevel coaches.

History

From a point in Secaucus, just south of the Hackensack River bridge near the former Harmon Cove station, to a point in East Rutherford north of the Rutherford station, the Bergen County Line uses the former Erie Railroad Main Line. This portion was opened in 1833 by the Paterson and Hudson River Railroad and leased by the New York and Erie Rail Road in 1852. The rest of the line, from East Rutherford north to Glen Rock, opened in 1881 as the Bergen County Railroad.

Until the late 1950s, the main function of the Erie's Bergen County Cutoff was as a freight bypass of the at-grade Main Line through Passaic. Commuter service was relatively minor. In 1963 the Lackawanna Boonton Line up to Paterson became the new Erie Main Line. This was due to the abandonment of the Main Line section through downtown Passaic and also due to the fact that Interstate 80 construction used the old Boonton Line right-way in Paterson. The old Main Line up to Rutherford was now exclusively part of the Bergen Line.

Prior to the opening of Secaucus Junction in 2003, Bergen County Line trains used a longer stretch of the old Erie Main Line in Secaucus, extending south to Croxton Yard and a merge with the former Lackawanna Boonton Line. A curving track was built between the HX Draw at Hackensack River and the Main Line north of Secaucus Junction to allow Bergen County Line trains to use Secaucus Junction.

Service

Map of the Main and Bergen County lines

Rutherford station

Approaching Secaucus Junction, a westbound train headed for the Bergen County Line will use the more northerly pair of tracks, designated G and H at the transfer. West of the transfer, these tracks diverge from the Main Line over a new right-of-way opened in 2003, connecting the Main Line with the Bergen County Line. During this stretch, the Hackensack River is to the left, while industrial plants on Meadowlands Parkway are to the right. A former station, Harmon Cove was located nearby along the old Erie right-of-way and opened between 1978 and 2003 to serve the high-rise apartments nearby.

Soon the train joins the old Erie Main Line right-of-way and crosses the Hackensack over HX Bridge, a two-track bascule draw. For the next two miles, the train crosses the Meadowlands, under the New Jersey Turnpike western spur with the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford visible in the distance to the right and a new development beginning to take shape in Rutherford, to the left. Here, the track parallels Berrys Creek and eventually crosses it just before passing below Route 3.

Beyond Route 3, the landscape changes to industrial. Office buildings line the side of the track, some serviced by sidings. The Pascack Valley Line soon splits off to the right at Pascack Junction, and the train then crosses Route 17 and approaches the Rutherford station.

For a half-mile the train passes residences on either side, then swings right, abandoning the old Erie Main Line at 40°50′10″N 74°06′15″W / 40.836°N 74.1042°W / 40.836; -74.1042, and passes through industrial areas with several grade crossings. Soon, the tracks form the border of Carlstadt and Wallington. Presently the train passes Wood-Ridge and South Hackensack before crossing the Saddle River into Garfield reaching the Garfield station.

The train continues northward through Garfield, passing homes, businesses, and Dahnerts Lake County Park before reaching the Plauderville station at Midland Avenue, the border between Garfield and neighboring Saddle Brook. Shortly after passing beneath U.S. Highway 46 the track becomes the border of Saddle Brook and Elmwood Park, once again crossing Midland Avenue. Interstate 80 passes above the train, which then crosses the Garden State Parkway. The Broadway station in Fair Lawn straddles a border formed by the track and Route 4.

In Fair Lawn, the line is paralleled by Plaza Road, named for Radburn Plaza, the commercial area serving the Radburn development for which the borough's more northerly station is named. The line crosses below Route 208 before reaching Radburn. Beyond the station, the train passes housing to the right and industry to the left, with a spur to a Nabisco plant. Next is the Glen Rock-Boro Hall station which like its Main Line counterpart is on Rock Road. The lines merge a short distance north of this point at Ridgewood Junction.

Stations

Zone	Station	Miles (km) from HOB	Date opened	Date closed	Connections / notes
1	Hoboken Terminal	0.0 (0.0)	1903		NJ Transit: Gladstone, Main, Meadowlands, Montclair-Boonton, Morristown, North Jersey Coast, Pascack Valley, and Raritan Valley Lines Metro-North: Port Jervis Line Hudson-Bergen Light Rail: 8th Street-Hoboken, Hoboken-Tonnelle PATH: HOB-WTC, HOB-33, JSQ-33 (via HOB) NJT Bus: 22, 22X, 23, 54, 68, 85, 87, 89, 126 New York Waterway to Battery Park City
	Morris & Essex Lines (Morristown Line and Gladstone Branch) diverge
	Secaucus Junction	3.5 (5.6)	2003		NJ Transit: Gladstone, Main, Meadowlands, Montclair-Boonton, Morristown, North Jersey Coast, Northeast Corridor, Pascack Valley, and Raritan Valley Lines Metro-North: Port Jervis Line NJT Bus: 2, 78, 129, 329, 353
Main Line diverges
3
	Harmon Cove – Secaucus		1978	2003	Station closed when line was rerouted to serve Secaucus Junction
	Meadowlands and Pascack Valley Lines diverge
	Rutherford	8.4 (13.5)	1862		NJT Bus: 76, 190 Originally called Rutherford – East Rutherford
4
	Wesmont	10.4 (16.7)	May 15, 2016
	Garfield	11.3 (18.2)			NJT Bus: 160, 161, 702, 707, 709, 758
5	Plauderville	12.7 (20.4)	1913		NJT Bus: 160, 758
6	Broadway	15.3 (24.6)			NJT Bus: 144, 166, 770 Also known as Broadway Fair Lawn
	Radburn	16.5 (26.6)	1930		NJT Bus: 145, 171
8	Glen Rock – Boro Hall	18.2 (29.3)			NJT Bus: 164, 175, 746
Main Line converges
9	Ridgewood	20.9 (33.6)	1916		NJ Transit: Main Line NJT Bus: 163, 164, 175, 722, 746, 752
10	Ho-Ho-Kus	22.1 (35.6)	1860		NJ Transit: Main Line
	Waldwick	23.2 (37.3)	1886		NJ Transit: Main Line
11	Allendale (limited service)	24.6 (39.6)	1870		NJ Transit: Main Line
12	Ramsey – Main Street (limited service)	26.5 (42.6)			NJ Transit: Main Line
13	Ramsey – Route 17 (limited service)	27.9 (44.9)	1868		NJ Transit: Main Line Metro-North: Port Jervis Line
14	Mahwah (limited service)	29.1 (46.8)	1871		NJ Transit: Main Line Short Line Bus: 17
	Suffern (limited service)	30.5 (49.1)			NJ Transit: Main Line Metro-North: Port Jervis Line Transport of Rockland: 59, 93, Monsey Loop 3, Tappan ZEExpress Short Line Bus: 17M/MD/SF
Port Jervis Line continues north