Presbyterian College > Academic Web Server > Jon Bell > Transit > (Cities | Types) > Jersey City

Jersey City / Bayonne / Hoboken, New Jersey:
Hudson-Bergen Light Rail

Description

New Jersey Transit's Hudson-Bergen light rail line serves Jersey City. Bayonne and Hoboken,, across the Hudson River from New York. The route is an inverted Y shape, with a stem running southward from North Bergen through Hoboken and the waterfront area of Jersey City, and two branches extending to western Jersey City and southwards to Bayonne. It connects with the Port Authority Trans-Hudson at Hoboken, Newport and Exchange Place.

The system opened in sections as follows:

Section Date
E. 34th St. / West Side Ave. —
Exchange Place 		15 April 2000
Exchange Place —
Newport 		18 November 2000
Newport —
Hoboken 		October 2002
E. 34th St. —
E. 22nd St. 		15 November 2003
Hoboken —
Lincoln Harbor 		7 September 2004
Lincoln Harbor —
Tonnelle Avenue 		25 February 2006

A further short extension southward is being planned, from 22nd Street to 8th Street in Bayonne.

The line was the first in the U.S. to be built under a Design - Build - Operate - Maintain (DBOM) arrangement. NJ Transit contracted with 21st Century Rail Corporation, a consortium of Washington Infrastructures Programs (formerly Raytheon Corp.) and the Japanese equipment rail equipment builders Kinki-Sharyo and Itachu, for the construction and the first fifteen years of operation of the line, as a "turnkey" operation. 21st Century operates the line under its own management, separately from the rest of NJ Transit.

The line uses modern low-floor light-rail vehicles built by Kinki-Sharyo. Passengers enter directly from a curb-level platform without climbing steps. Such vehicles have become common in Europe beginning in the 1990s, but the Hudson-Bergen line is the first to use them in the U.S.

The line operates mostly at ground level, with some short elevated sections. From Hoboken to Liberty State Park, the line twists and turns, with frequent street crossings, and speeds are rather low. South of Liberty State Park, on the West Side and Bayonne branches, the line is straighter and has no crossings on the Bayonne branch at least, so speeds there are much higher.

Trains currently (Fall 2007) operate on three routes:

Fares are collected on the Proof of Payment (POP) system, in which pasengers either buy tickets in advance from vending machines at the stations, and time-stamp them in a validating machine before entering the trains; or use weekly or monthly passes. Roving inspectors check tickets at random.

Initially, ridership was rather low, but it rose somewhat after the extension to Newport (next to a large shopping mall). After the destruction of the World Trade Center and the closing of PATH's Exchange Place station, ridership rose dramatically because the light rail line became the only way to reach the Exchange Place area by rail. Between Marin Blvd. and Liberty State Park, the line passes through a "brownfields" area that was recently cleared for redevelopment, and it is hoped that the line will stimulate development there.

Pictures

These pictures were taken in July 2001.

[picture #1] | [picture #2] In July 2001, the northern terminal of the line was at Newport, next to the Newport Center shopping mall (to the left in these pictures) and a block from the Pavonia/Newport PATH station (to the right, on the other side of the building).

[picture] The Exchange Place station at the intersection of Hudson St. and Columbus Blvd.

[picture] A train rounds the corner from Hudson Street onto Essex Street near the Jersey City waterfront, with the Manhattan skyline (including the World Trade Center) in the background.

[picture] The light rail line has triggered the renovation of apartments and condominiums along Essex Street.

[picture] Interior of a car, looking from front to rear. Most of the car has a low floor which is almost the same height as the curb-level station platforms. Short raised-floor sections at each end accommodate the wheels and motors.

[picture] From the front seats, you can look through the door to the operator's cab and get a good view out the front of the train. Here we are on an eastbound train approaching Marin Blvd.

[picture] The carbarn and shops are located where the West Side and Bayonne branches separate, just south of Liberty State Park.

[picture] A southbound train approaches the E. 34th St. terminal, in a view looking north from the pedestrian bridge over the tracks.

[picture] The E. 34th St. terminal is next to a residential neighborhood, behind a grocery store. The pedestrian bridge from which this picture was taken leads to a large park-and-ride lot next to NJ route 169.

[picture] On the platform at E. 34th St. The bricks on the platform show a stylized map of the system.

Links

This page was last updated on 18 September 2007.

Presbyterian College > Academic Web Server > Jon Bell > Transit > (Cities | Types) > Jersey City

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