Newark and New York Railroad facts for kids

The Newark and New York Railroad was an important train line that connected downtown Newark with the Communipaw Terminal in Jersey City. This railway crossed the Hackensack River and Passaic River near where they meet Newark Bay in northeastern New Jersey. The Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ) started running trains on this line in 1869. While regular train service stopped in 1946, some parts of the line were used until 1967.

How the Railroad Started

The front of the Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal in Downtown Newark.

The Newark and New York Railroad opened on July 23, 1869. The Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ) operated it. This new line offered a direct way for people to travel between Newark and the CNJ's terminal in Jersey City. From there, passengers could easily take ferries to New York City.

Building this railway was very expensive for its time, costing $300,000 per mile. People even called it "the country's costliest railroad." In 1872, a new connection was added at a place called Newark Transfer. This connected the line south to Elizabeth, where it joined the CNJ's main rail line. This main line crossed Newark Bay at Bayonne using an older version of the CRRNJ Newark Bay Bridge. The new Newark and New York line helped reduce crowded trains and made travel faster compared to the older New Jersey Railroad line.

The Train Route

The old bridge supports for the Hackensack River crossing.

The train route started west from the Hudson River and went through Bergen Hill. A special path, called a "cut," was dug through the hill for the tracks. Then, the line crossed the Hackensack River to Kearny Point, which is part of a larger area called New Barbadoes Neck. From there, it continued to the Passaic River.

In 1913, the bridges over both the Hackensack and Passaic rivers were made taller. This was done so that ships could pass underneath them more easily. After crossing the Passaic River, the railway entered the Ironbound Section of Newark. It ran parallel to and south of Market Street before ending at Broad Street. At its busiest, more than 100 passenger trains used this route every day!

What Happened to the Line

A 1915 picture of the Jackson Avenue station.

In 1946, a boat crashed into the Hackensack Drawbridge, causing a lot of damage. Because of this, the main train line was stopped, and the bridge was taken apart. However, passenger trains from Newark and Elizabethport still used the PD Draw bridge over the Passaic River to reach Kearny. They served a Western Electric factory located at Kearny Point. This continued until 1967, when a new plan called the Aldene Plan changed train routes.

Today, you can still see some parts of the old railway. The piers (supports) of the Hackensack bridge are still visible from the shoreline. Parts of the Passaic River swing bridge and its main support also remain. The old Newark terminal building is still standing and is now part of the Four Corners Historic District. The area where the train tracks and train shed used to be is now the site of the Prudential Center. The old rail yard is planned to become a park called Triangle Park. Some of the bridges from the yard, like those over McCarter Highway and the tracks used by Amtrak and New Jersey Transit (NJT) to Newark Penn Station, are still there. The station house at the Jackson Avenue station also survived until at least 2007.

The old path through Bergen Hill and the West Side in Jersey City has become part of the Hudson Bergen Light Rail. NJT has plans to extend the West Side Branch of the light rail. This extension would go over Route 440 to a new area called Bayfront, where a new station would be built.

Train Stations and Stops