Raritan Valley Line

Infobox rail line
box_width=350px
name = rail color box|system=NJT|line=Raritan Valley

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image_width = 300px
caption = Train #5439, a PM peak train on the Raritan Valley Line, is about to drop off customers at the njt-sta|Dunellen station.
type = Commuter rail line
system = New Jersey Transit
status =
locale = North Jersey
start = Newark Penn Station or Hoboken Terminal
end = njt-sta|Raritan (full time)
njt-sta|High Bridge (limited weekday service)
stations = 20
routes =
ridership = 12,113 [https://webfiles.berkeley.edu/~lensovet/njtboardingdata.htm New Jersey Transit rail boarding numbers 2007-1999] "Berkeley" Retrieved 2008-07-23]
open =
close =
owner = Amtrak
(east of Hunter)
CSAO
(Hunter to Aldene)
New Jersey Transit
(Aldene westward)
operator = New Jersey Transit
character =
stock = F40PH-2CAT locomotives
GP40FH-2 locomotives
GE P40DC locomotives
Comet IIM/Comet III/Comet IV/Comet V/Multi-level vehicles
linelength =
tracklength =
notrack =
gauge = RailGauge|sg
el =
speed =
elevation =

infobox rdt|NJTransit-Raritan-infobox|The Raritan Valley Line is a commuter rail service operated by New Jersey Transit, running out of Newark Penn Station, with most trains terminating at the Raritan station and some trains continuing further west and terminating at High Bridge during peak periods (rush hour). One Morning Inbound train continues to Hoboken.

Peak hour trains arrive on weekdays at Newark's Penn Station between 6:59 am and 9:01 am; and leave between 4:45 pm and 7:17 pm. [http://www.njtransit.com/pdf/rail/r0060.pdf]

Route description

From Cranford west, the line follows the former Main Line of the former Central Railroad of New Jersey. The main line service originally ran through Elizabeth and Bayonne to Jersey City, and terminating at Communipaw Terminal in what is today Liberty State Park. This station, which was served by the Reading Jersey Central, and former B & O Washington-Jersey City line, had direct connections, either by chartered bus, or by ferry, into Manhattan, the latter serving the financial district.

Under the 1967 Aldene Plan, however, the Aldene Connection was built to the former Lehigh Valley Railroad right-of-way, and trains were re-routed to Newark Penn Station via a second pre-existing connection the (Hunter Connection), to the Northeast Corridor.

Rolling Stock

On the Raritan Valley Line F40PH-2CAT, GP40PH-2(A and B) GP40FH-2, and Alstom PL42AC locomotives haul primarily Comet IIM trailers with Comet V cab cars.

Proposed Service to Phillipsburg

Service beyond High Bridge to Phillipsburg was discontinued in 1984 to permit Interstate 78 to be constructed over the former CNJ main line. (The service ended ostensibly due to lack of use; ridership figures were most likely limited owing to poor service west of Raritan, with three trains a day. There are plans to eventually restore service to Phillipsburg.) Between Bloomsbury and Phillipsburg, Norfolk Southern's Lehigh Line will have to be used since Conrail (the previous freight operator) reconfigured.

Proposed Service to West Trenton

Another plan that has been proposed is to restore service on the former Reading Railroad's Jersey City branch track between Trenton and Bound Brook.

To date, absolutely no funding for the proposal has been secured. [http://www.njtransit.com/tm/tm_servlet.srv?hdnPageAction=Project016To [Accessed April 5, 2008] ]

Closed stations

* Grant Avenue (Plainfield)
* Finderne
* Glen Gardner
* Hampton
* Ludlow
* Bloomsbury
* Phillipsburg

References