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.
Until the late 1950s, the main function of the Erie's Bergen County Cutoff was as a freight (and long-distance express) bypass of the at-grade Main Line through Passaic. Commuter service was relatively minor. In 1963 the LackawannaBoonton Branch up to Paterson (with a small portion of the Erie's Newark Branch) became the new Erie-Lackawanna Main Line. This was caused by the abandonment of the Main Line section through downtown Passaic and construction of Interstate 80 using the old Boonton Branch right-way in Paterson. The old Main Line east of Rutherford was now exclusively part of the Bergen County 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 Branch. A curving track was built between the HX Draw at Hackensack River and the Main Line west of Secaucus Junction to allow Bergen County Line trains to use Secaucus Junction.[4]
On February 9, 1996, a Bergen County Line train collided with a Main Line train killing 3 people and 162 were injured.[5] It was the New York City area and New Jersey's worst train accident since the 1958 Newark Bay rail accident where at least 48 people died.[6]
On February 21, 2007, a Bergen County Line train suffered a minor derailment after passing over an improperly repaired switch at Ridgewood Junction.[7]
West of Secaucus Junction, the Bergen County Line tracks diverge from the Main Line over a new right-of-way opened on December 15, 2003, connecting the Main Line with the Bergen County Line. During this stretch and traveling westbound, 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 served the high-rise apartments nearby between 1978 and 2003.[8][4]
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. 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″N74°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 reaching the Wesmont station, which opened on May 15, 2016.[9] The train then swings left, crossing the Saddle River, and then right, into Garfield reaching the Garfield station.[10][citation needed]
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. The trains will continue north to either Waldwick or Suffern, and some peak trains will terminate at Ridgewood, which is the first station after the two lines join.[11]
Clayton, W. Woodford (1882). History of Bergen and Passaic Counties, New Jersey: With Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Everts & Peck. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
Lucas, Walter Arndt (1944). From the Hills to the Hudson: A History of the Paterson and Hudson River Rail Road and its Associates, the Paterson and Ramapo, and the Union Railroads. New York, New York: The Cornwall Press. hdl:2027/uc1.b4536228. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
Mott, Edward Harold (1899). Between the Ocean and the Lakes: The Story of Erie. New York, New York: John S. Collins. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
Poor, Henry Varnum (1884). Poor's Manual of Railroads. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: H.V. & H.W. Poor. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
Van Valen, James M. (1900). History of Bergen County, New Jersey. New York, New York: New Jersey Publishing and Engraving Company. Retrieved March 2, 2019.
Wardell, Patricia Webb (1994). Allendale: Background of a Borough. Allendale, New Jersey: Allendale Historical Society. Retrieved August 18, 2017.
Citizens Semi-Centennial Association (1916). Ridgewood, Bergen County, New Jersey, Past and Present. Ridgewood, New Jersey: Citizens Semi-Centennial Association. Retrieved December 22, 2020.
^"PRR Chronology, 1833" (PDF). (61.1 KiB), June 2004 Edition
^"PRR Chronology, 1852" (PDF). (83.5 KiB), March 2005 Edition
^ ab. njtransit.com. New Jersey Transit. June 27, 2003. Archived from the original on June 28, 2003. Retrieved May 28, 2018.
^"NEAR HEAD-ON COLLISION AND DERAILMENT OF TWO NEW JERSEY TRANSIT COMMUTER TRAINS NEAR SECAUCUS, NEW JERSEY FEBRUARY 9, 1996" National Transportation Safety Board
^Lee, Henry. "New Jersey Train plunges off a bridge into Newark Bay killing more then 40 people". nydailynews.
^Medina, Toni. "NJ TRANSIT". NJ TRANSIT. Retrieved May 6, 2021.
^"Station is dedicated". The Courier-News. Bridgewater, New Jersey. June 20, 1978. p. B5. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
^ abClark, Susan Joy (May 19, 2016). "Train station opens at Wesmont Development in Wood-Ridge". North Jersey.com. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
^"Main/Bergen County Line Master File" (PDF). NJTransit.com. NJTransit.
^ abc(PDF). New York, New York: New Jersey Transit Rail Operations. 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 24, 2002. Retrieved November 26, 2014.
^Frassinelli, Mike (June 5, 2013). "U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg gets one last ride at the Secaucus station that bears his name". The Star-Ledger. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
^New York Division Bulletin. Electric Railroaders' Association. August 2003. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
^Sullivan, Al. "Harmon Cove Station will close Bus shuttle service to new station will start in July", The Hudson Reporter, February 1, 2003. Accessed December 28, 2016."
^ abcd"Common Council". The New York Herald. October 17, 1848. p. 1. Retrieved June 18, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
^ abcd"Ramapo and Paterson and Paterson and Hudson River Railroads". The Evening Post. New York, New York. December 7, 1848. p. 4. Retrieved June 18, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
^"National Register of Historic Places Inventory -- Nomination Form -- Waldwick Railroad Station". National Park Service. September 21, 1977. p. 8. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
^"Synopsis of Erie History". The Herald-News. Passaic, New Jersey. April 2, 1963. pp. 1, 6. Retrieved March 2, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
^"NJ Transit Announces Opening of Ramsey Route 17 Station" (Press release). New Jersey Transit. August 6, 2004.
^Seymour, HC (October 28, 1841). "Eastern Division of the New York and Erie Railroad". The Evening Post. New York, New York. p. 1. Retrieved July 29, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bergen County Line (New Jersey Transit).
January 20, 2023
bergen, county, line, commuter, rail, line, service, owned, operated, jersey, transit, state, jersey, line, loops, main, line, between, meadowlands, glen, rock, with, trains, continuing, either, direction, along, main, line, colored, system, maps, grey, symbol. 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 Bergen County LineTrain 1253 departs Glen Rock Boro Hall OverviewOwnerNew Jersey Transit Hoboken Terminal to Suffern Norfolk Southern Railway Suffern to Port Jervis leased to and maintained by Metro North Railroad LocaleNorthern New JerseyTerminiHoboken TerminalWaldwick or SuffernStations12 to Waldwick 18 service to Suffern ServiceTypeCommuter railSystemNew Jersey Transit Rail OperationsMetro North RailroadOperator s New Jersey TransitRolling stockF40PH 3C GP40PH 2 ALP 45DP PL42AC locomotivesComet V Multilevel coachesDaily ridership4 305 1 TechnicalTrack length152 9 km 95 0 mi Track gauge4 ft 8 1 2 in 1 435 mm Route mapLegendPort Jervis Lineto Port Jervis30 6 mi49 2 km Suffern YardPiermont Branch30 5 mi49 1 km SuffernNYNJ border29 1 mi46 8 km MahwahRoute 1727 9 mi44 9 km Ramsey Route 1726 5 mi42 6 km Ramsey24 6 mi39 6 km Allendale23 5 mi37 8 km Waldwick Yard23 2 mi37 3 km Waldwick22 1 mi35 6 km Ho Ho Kus20 9 mi33 6 km Ridgewood20 2 mi32 5 km Ridgewood JunctionMAIN via Paterson mileage above via Main Line18 2 mi29 3 km Glen Rock Boro Hall16 5 mi26 6 km RadburnRoute 20815 3 mi24 6 km BroadwayRoute 4G S ParkwayI 8014 2 mi22 9 km Passaic Junction NYSW Railway US 4612 7 mi20 4 km PlaudervilleNYGL Dundee Spur11 3 mi18 2 km GarfieldSaddle River10 4 mi16 7 km WesmontErie Main LineCarlton HillclosedBergen Junction8 4 mi13 5 km RutherfordRoute 177 6 mi12 2 km PVL to Spring ValleyRoute 3I 95 N J TurnpikeWestern Spur5 6 mi9 km HX Draw Hackensack River former alignmentHarmon CoveclosedMAIN via PatersonI 95 N J TurnpikeEastern SpurNortheast Corridor3 5 mi5 6 km Secaucus Junctionformer alignmentNew York amp Greenwood LakeBoonton LineMorris amp Essex Lines M amp E via HackettstownBergen Tunnels0 0 mi0 km Hoboken TerminalHudson RiverThis diagram viewtalkeditSome 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 Contents 1 History 1 1 Secaucus train collision 1 2 2007 Ridgewood Junction Derailment 2 Service 3 Stations 4 Bibliography 5 ReferencesHistory Edit Share of the Bergen County Railroad Company issued 1 February 1883 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 2 and leased by the New York and Erie Rail Road in 1852 3 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 and long distance express bypass of the at grade Main Line through Passaic Commuter service was relatively minor In 1963 the Lackawanna Boonton Branch up to Paterson with a small portion of the Erie s Newark Branch became the new Erie Lackawanna Main Line This was caused by the abandonment of the Main Line section through downtown Passaic and construction of Interstate 80 using the old Boonton Branch right way in Paterson The old Main Line east of Rutherford was now exclusively part of the Bergen County 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 Branch A curving track was built between the HX Draw at Hackensack River and the Main Line west of Secaucus Junction to allow Bergen County Line trains to use Secaucus Junction 4 Secaucus train collision Edit Main article 1996 Secaucus train collision On February 9 1996 a Bergen County Line train collided with a Main Line train killing 3 people and 162 were injured 5 It was the New York City area and New Jersey s worst train accident since the 1958 Newark Bay rail accident where at least 48 people died 6 2007 Ridgewood Junction Derailment Edit Main article 2007 Ridgewood Junction Train Derailment On February 21 2007 a Bergen County Line train suffered a minor derailment after passing over an improperly repaired switch at Ridgewood Junction 7 Service EditFor the route description of the Bergen County Line north of Ridgewood see Main Line NJ Transit Service and Port Jervis Line Service Rutherford station West of Secaucus Junction the Bergen County Line tracks diverge from the Main Line over a new right of way opened on December 15 2003 connecting the Main Line with the Bergen County Line During this stretch and traveling westbound 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 served the high rise apartments nearby between 1978 and 2003 8 4 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 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 reaching the Wesmont station which opened on May 15 2016 9 The train then swings left crossing the Saddle River and then right into Garfield reaching the Garfield station 10 citation needed 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 The trains will continue north to either Waldwick or Suffern and some peak trains will terminate at Ridgewood which is the first station after the two lines join 11 Stations EditState Zone 12 Location Station 12 Mile km Date opened Date closed Line services Connections 12 BC ML PJNJ 1 Hoboken Hoboken Terminal 0 0 0 0 1903 NJ Transit Rail Gladstone Main Line Meadowlands Montclair Boonton Morristown North Jersey Coast Pascack Valley and Raritan Valley LinesHudson Bergen Light Rail 8th Street Hoboken Hoboken Tonnelle linesPATH HOB WTC HOB 33 JSQ 33 via HOB NJ Transit Bus 22 23 63 64 68 85 87 89 126New York Waterway to Battery Park CitySecaucus Secaucus Junction 3 5 5 6 December 15 2003 13 NJ Transit Rail upper level Gladstone Montclair Boonton Morristown Northeast Corridor North Jersey Coast and Raritan Valley linesNJ Transit Rail lower level Main Meadowlands and Pascack Valley linesNJ Transit Bus 2 78 129 329 3533 Harmon Cove June 26 1978 14 August 4 2003 15 Rutherford Rutherford 8 4 13 5 December 4 1833 16 NJ Transit Bus 76 1904 Wood Ridge Wesmont 10 4 16 7 May 15 2016 9 17 Garfield Garfield 11 3 18 2 October 1 1881 18 19 NJ Transit Bus 160 161 702 707 709 758Spring Tank October 1 1881 18 Former station at Belmont Avenue in Garfield 18 20 5 Plauderville 12 7 20 4 NJ Transit Bus 160 7586 Fair Lawn Broadway 15 3 24 6 October 1 1881 19 NJ Transit Bus 144 166 770Radburn 16 5 26 6 October 1 1881 19 21 NJ Transit Bus 145 1718 Glen Rock Glen Rock Boro Hall 18 2 29 3 October 1 1881 19 NJ Transit Bus 164 175 7469 Ridgewood Ridgewood 20 9 33 6 October 19 1848 22 23 NJ Transit Bus 163 164 175 722 746 75210 Ho Ho Kus Ho Ho Kus 22 1 35 6 October 19 1848 22 23 Waldwick Waldwick 23 2 37 3 1886 24 11 Allendale Allendale 24 6 39 6 October 19 1848 22 23 12 Ramsey Ramsey 26 5 42 6 October 19 1848 25 13 Ramsey Route 17 27 9 44 9 August 22 2004 26 14 Mahwah Mahwah 29 1 46 8 October 19 1848 22 23 Short Line Bus 17NY Suffern Suffern 30 5 49 1 June 30 1841 27 28 Transport of Rockland 59 93 Monsey Loop 3 Tappan ZEExpressShort Line Bus 17M MD SFBibliography EditClayton W Woodford 1882 History of Bergen and Passaic Counties New Jersey With Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men Philadelphia Pennsylvania Everts amp Peck Retrieved July 28 2020 Lucas Walter Arndt 1944 From the Hills to the Hudson A History of the Paterson and Hudson River Rail Road and its Associates the Paterson and Ramapo and the Union Railroads New York New York The Cornwall Press hdl 2027 uc1 b4536228 Retrieved April 11 2021 Mott Edward Harold 1899 Between the Ocean and the Lakes The Story of Erie New York New York John S Collins Retrieved July 29 2020 Poor Henry Varnum 1884 Poor s Manual of Railroads Pittsburgh Pennsylvania H V amp H W Poor Retrieved July 28 2020 Van Valen James M 1900 History of Bergen County New Jersey New York New York New Jersey Publishing and Engraving Company Retrieved March 2 2019 Wardell Patricia Webb 1994 Allendale Background of a Borough Allendale New Jersey Allendale Historical Society Retrieved August 18 2017 Citizens Semi Centennial Association 1916 Ridgewood Bergen County New Jersey Past and Present Ridgewood New Jersey Citizens Semi Centennial Association Retrieved December 22 2020 References Edit NJT boarding data permanent dead link Berkeley Retrieved July 13 2008 PRR Chronology 1833 PDF 61 1 KiB June 2004 Edition PRR Chronology 1852 PDF 83 5 KiB March 2005 Edition a b Harmon Cove Information njtransit com New Jersey Transit June 27 2003 Archived from the original on June 28 2003 Retrieved May 28 2018 NEAR HEAD ON COLLISION AND DERAILMENT OF TWO NEW JERSEY TRANSIT COMMUTER TRAINS NEAR SECAUCUS NEW JERSEY FEBRUARY 9 1996 National Transportation Safety Board Lee Henry New Jersey Train plunges off a bridge into Newark Bay killing more then 40 people nydailynews Medina Toni NJ TRANSIT NJ TRANSIT Retrieved May 6 2021 Station is dedicated The Courier News Bridgewater New Jersey June 20 1978 p B5 Retrieved September 3 2018 a b Clark Susan Joy May 19 2016 Train station opens at Wesmont Development in Wood Ridge North Jersey com Retrieved September 4 2018 Google Maps Google Maps Main Bergen County Line Master File PDF NJTransit com NJTransit a b c Main Bergen County Lines Timetables November 19 2014 edition PDF New York New York New Jersey Transit Rail Operations 2014 Archived from the original PDF on January 24 2002 Retrieved November 26 2014 Frassinelli Mike June 5 2013 U S Sen Frank Lautenberg gets one last ride at the Secaucus station that bears his name The Star Ledger Retrieved June 5 2013 New York Division Bulletin Electric Railroaders Association August 2003 a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a Missing or empty title help Sullivan Al Harmon Cove Station will close Bus shuttle service to new station will start in July The Hudson Reporter February 1 2003 Accessed December 28 2016 Lucas 1944 p 122 Moss Linda May 15 2016 After 5 years of missed deadlines Wesmont train station in Wood Ridge opens The Record Retrieved May 15 2016 a b c A Short History of Garfield The Garfield Guardian January 11 1963 pp 1 3 Retrieved July 28 2020 via Newspapers com a b c d Poor 1884 p 167 Colton s Road Map of Bergen County New Jersey Map New York New York G W amp C B Colton amp Co 1896 Retrieved July 28 2020 Clayton 1882 p 203 a b c d Common Council The New York Herald October 17 1848 p 1 Retrieved June 18 2020 via Newspapers com a b c d Ramapo and Paterson and Paterson and Hudson River Railroads The Evening Post New York New York December 7 1848 p 4 Retrieved June 18 2020 via Newspapers com National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form Waldwick Railroad Station National Park Service September 21 1977 p 8 Retrieved April 12 2018 Synopsis of Erie History The Herald News Passaic New Jersey April 2 1963 pp 1 6 Retrieved March 2 2019 via Newspapers com NJ Transit Announces Opening of Ramsey Route 17 Station Press release New Jersey Transit August 6 2004 Mott 1899 p 331 Seymour HC October 28 1841 Eastern Division of the New York and Erie Railroad The Evening Post New York New York p 1 Retrieved July 29 2020 via Newspapers com Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bergen County Line New Jersey Transit Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Bergen County Line amp oldid 1127294609, 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