Pennsylvania Station (Newark)

Newark Pennsylvania Station
Amtrak station
New Jersey Transit commuter rail station
Newark Light Rail station
PATH station
Greyhound terminal

Newark Pennsylvania Station interior
Station statistics
Address Raymond Plaza West and Market Street
Newark, NJ 07102
Lines Amtrak: NJ Transit:
  ACES
Newark Light Rail: PATH:
Connections NJT Bus: 1, 5, 11, 21, 25, 28, 29, 34, 39, 40, 62, 67, 70, 71, 72, 73, 75, 76, 78, 79, 108, 308, 319, 361, 375, 378
ONE Bus: 31, 44
Greyhound Lines long distance bus service
Platforms 1 side platform (upper level)
3 island platforms and 2 side platforms (main level)
Tracks 8
Parking Available in immediate area
Baggage check Available for Cardinal, Carolinian, Crescent, Palmetto, Silver Meteor and Silver Star services
Other information
Opened 1935
Accessible
Code NWK (Amtrak)
ZRP (IATA)
Fare zone 1 (NJT only)
Traffic
Passengers (2010) 26,448 (average weekday)  3.67% (NJT)
Passengers (2010) 658,089[1]  4.3% (Amtrak)
Services
Preceding station   Amtrak   Following station
Acela Express
toward Chicago
Cardinal
Terminus
toward Charlotte
Carolinian
Crescent
toward Harrisburg
Keystone Service
toward Savannah
Palmetto
toward Pittsburgh
Pennsylvanian
Northeast Regional
toward Miami
Silver Meteor
Terminus
Silver Star
weekends
Vermonter
toward St. Albans
weekdays
NJ Transit Rail
Terminus
ACES
Terminus
toward Trenton
Northeast Corridor Line
toward Bay Head
North Jersey Coast Line
Terminus
Raritan Valley Line
Newark Light Rail
Grove Street – Newark Penn Terminus
Terminus Broad Street – Newark Penn
PATH
Terminus NWK–WTC
Pennsylvania Station
Location: Raymond Plaza West,
Newark, New Jersey
Area: 5 acres (2 ha)
Built: 1935
Architect: OR builder = McKim,Mead & White
Architectural style: Classical Revival, Art Deco
Governing body: State
NRHP Reference#: 78001760[2]
Added to NRHP: December 20, 1978

Pennsylvania Station (also known as Newark Penn Station) is a major transportation hub in Newark, New Jersey.[3] Located at Raymond Plaza, between Market Street and Raymond Boulevard, Newark Penn Station is served by the Newark Light Rail, New Jersey Transit commuter rail, Amtrak long distance trains, the PATH rapid transit system, and local, regional and national bus services (NJ Transit, Greyhound, and other private operators).[4]

Contents

History

Designed by the renowned architectural firm McKim, Mead and White, the station is a mixture of Art Deco and Neo-Classical. The interior of the main waiting room has medallions illustrating the history of transportation, from wagons to steamships to cars and airplanes, the eventual doom of the railroad age. The current building was dedicated on March 23, 1935; the first regular train to use it was a New York–Philadelphia express at 10:17 on March 24.[5][6] The new station was built alongside (northwest of) the old station, which was then demolished and replaced by the southeast half of the present station, completed in 1937. Except for the separate, underground Newark Light Rail station, tracks are elevated above street level.

It was built to be one of the centerpieces of the former Pennsylvania Railroad's (PRR's) train network, and was a transfer point to the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad (now PATH), which was partially funded by the PRR, for travel to lower Manhattan. At the time, PRR operated 232 weekday trains (total of both directions) between Newark and New York Penn Station; after 1937, the 10-mile trip took an average of 16 minutes.

The station, the adjacent 230-foot Dock Bridge over the Passaic River (the longest three-track railway lift span in existence at the time), the Newark City Subway extension and the realignment of the H&M cost $42 million, borne almost evenly by the PRR and the City of Newark. Both systems were extended or realigned to the station on June 20, 1937, closing Manhattan Transfer.[7]

Newark Penn Station was extensively renovated in 2007, with restoration of the facade and historic interior materials (e.g., plaster ceilings, marble and limestone, windows, lighting fixtures), as well as train platform and equipment improvements.[8]

Current operations

Newark Penn Station is still frequented by the intercity Northeast Corridor Amtrak service, but most of its passengers are commuters. Three New Jersey Transit commuter rail lines converge here — the Northeast Corridor Line which continues into New York, the North Jersey Coast Line which continues to New York or Hoboken, and the Raritan Valley Line, which terminates here with one morning train continuing to Hoboken.

It is the west end of the Newark – World Trade Center line of the PATH train operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

On the lower level is the south end of the Newark Light Rail. Passengers on this light rail system from Newark and its nearby suburbs can transfer to Amtrak or PATH trains, or travel to Newark Broad Street Station or downtown Newark.

Of the six New Jersey stations served by Amtrak, Newark was the busiest in FY2010, boarding or detraining an average of about 1800 Amtrak passengers daily.[1] As of April 3, 2011 the public timetables show 188 weekday trains westward from Newark: 106 NJ Transit from New York Penn, 5 NJ Transit from Hoboken, 26 originating NJ Transit to the CNJ main line to Raritan/High Bridge, and 51 Amtrak (plus the triweekly Cardinal).

Newark Penn Station carries the IATA airport code of ZRP.[9]

Tracks and platforms

Newark Penn has eight tracks (not including Newark Light Rail). Seven are on one level, but PATH trains from Manhattan arrive on an upper-level track with a platform on the west side, from which passengers can quickly reach platforms for their onward trains.

Nearby attractions

In popular culture

Sources and notes

  1. ^ a b "Amtrak Fact Sheet, FY2010, State of New Jersey" (PDF). Amtrak. November 2010. http://www.amtrak.com/pdf/factsheets/NEWJERSEY10.pdf. Retrieved 2011-01-06. 
  2. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2010-07-09. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html. 
  3. ^ "Getting Around". Greater Newark Convention & Visitors Bureau. http://www.gonewark.com/getting_around.html. Retrieved 2010-03-13. 
  4. ^ Pirmann, David; Darlington, Peggy. "Newark City Subway". nycsubway.org. http://world.nycsubway.org/us/newark/. Retrieved 2010-03-13. 
  5. ^ "Newark Dedicates New Station Today". The New York Times: p. 13. March 23, 1935. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30E12FF355B107A93C1AB1788D85F418385F9. Retrieved 2010-05-30. 
  6. ^ "Newark Dedicates Its New Terminal". The New York Times: p. N1. March 24, 1935. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F20C16FC355B107A93C6AB1788D85F418385F9. Retrieved 2010-05-30. 
  7. ^ "New Station Open for Hudson Tubes". The New York Times: p. 1. June 20, 1937. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0B14FB3A541B728DDDA90A94DE405B878FF1D3. Retrieved 2010-05-30. 
  8. ^ Hall Construction Co., Howell, NJ. "NJ Transit - Newark Penn Station Improvement Program." Accessed 2011-11-15.
  9. ^ "Three Letter Airport Codes". Lastupdate Travel. http://www.lastupdate.com/usairports/airportcodes_us_n.html. Retrieved 2010-03-13. 

External links