Montclair-Boonton Line
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The Montclair-Boonton Line is a commuter rail line on New Jersey Transit Rail's Hoboken Division. It is a consolidiation of the Montclair Branch and the Boonton Line, formed when the Montclair Connection opened on September 30, 2002. Out of 33 inbound and 37 outbound daily weekday trains, 19 inbound and 20 outbound Midtown Direct trains (about 55%) use the Kearny Connection (opened June 10, 1996) to Secaucus Junction and New York Penn Station; the rest go to Hoboken Terminal. Passengers can transfer at Newark Broad Street Station, Montclair State University or Dover to reach the other destination if necessary. This line operates weekday service only. There are also plans for electrification from Dover to Lake Hopatcong due to capacity issues at the yard in Dover.
When the Montclair Connection was built, the Boonton Line, which had previously featured all-diesel operation, was electrified from the Connection to Great Notch Yard (west of the Montclair State University Station). The town of Montclair wanted diesels removed from the line, but electrification could only extend as far west as Great Notch Yard due to cost concerns (building eletrification to Denville would also require an additional substation; Great Notch Yard represents the extent of the existing substation), so passengers to/from west of Montclair State University must transfer at that station. Passengers had originally transferred at Montclair Heights and a station listed as Transfer Platform on the schedules (the MSU Station platform, in fact) before the Montclair State University Station officially opened on October 20, 2004.
[edit] History
Following the 1960 merger of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad and Erie Railroad into the Erie-Lackawanna Railway, the new entity formed its Boonton Line in 1963 from the east end of the Erie's Greenwood Lake Branch between Hoboken and Wayne and the west end of the DL&W's Boonton Line from Wayne to Denville, orignally calling it the Greenwood Lake-Boonton Line from the consolidation of the two lines. When New Jersey Transit assumed operation of commuter rail operations in 1980, it used the name Boonton Line (service to Greenwood Lake having been long since abandoned), and following the opening of the Montclair Connection and permanent consolidation of the Boonton Line with the former DL&W Montclair Branch, renamed the new artery as the Montclair-Boonton Line.
Three passenger stations, all of which were on the former Erie Railroad's Greenwood Lake Branch east of Montclair, were abandoned when the Montclair Connection opened in 2002 and the "Lower Boonton" reverted to Norfolk Southern control:
- Arlington, in Kearny
- Rowe Street, in Bloomfield
- Benson Street, in Glen Ridge
[edit] Station listing
| Milepost | City | Station | Oper | Connections |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | Hoboken | Hoboken Terminal | NJT | PATH and New York Waterways to New York City, Hudson-Bergen Light Rail to local points, NJT 22, 23, 64, 68, 85, 87, 89, 126 buses |
| Meadows Maintenance Complex | NJT | Main Overhaul and Maintenance Shop, employee stop | ||
| Midtown Direct trains join | ||||
| 5 | Kearny | Kearny Junction | Midtown Direct trains from New York Penn Station and Secaucus Junction join the line via the Kearny Connection | |
| Newark | Newark Broad Street Station | NJT | Newark Light Rail service, NJT 11, 13, 27, 28, 29, 39, 41, 43, 72, 76, 78, 108 buses | |
| Roseville Avenue | NJT Morristown Line and Gladstone Branch splits, abandoned station | |||
| East Orange | Ampere | NJT | abandoned | |
| Bloomfield | Watsessing Avenue | NJT | NJT 94 bus | |
| Bloomfield | NJT | NJT 11, 28, 29, 34, 92, 93, 709 buses | ||
| Glen Ridge | Glen Ridge | NJT | NJT 11, 28, 29 buses, Community Shuttle | |
| Montclair | Bay Street | NJT | NJT 11, 28, 29, 34 buses, Community Shuttle | |
| 12 | Walnut Street | NJT | ||
| 13 | Watchung Avenue | NJT | NJT 28 bus | |
| 14 | Upper Montclair | NJT | NJT 28 bus | |
| 14.5 | Mountain Avenue | NJT | NJT 28 bus | |
| 15 | Montclair Heights | NJT | NJT 28, 191, 705 buses | |
| Little Falls | Montclair State University | NJT | Montclair State University | |
| 16.5 | Great Notch | NJT | electric storage yard; only diesel trains permitted beyond this point, all trains go to Hoboken Terminal or Montclair State University as its western terminal NJT 191, 195, 705 buses |
|
| 18.5 | Little Falls | NJT | NJT 11, 191, 704, 705 buses | |
| Wayne | Wayne-Route 23 | NJT | Proposed Station | |
| 21.5 | Mountain View | NJT | NJT 75, 194, 197, 748 buses, MCM1 | |
| Lincoln Park | Lincoln Park | NJT | MCM1 | |
| Montville | Towaco | NJT | MCM1 | |
| Montville | NJT | abandoned | ||
| Boonton | Boonton | NJT | MCM1 | |
| Mountain Lakes | Mountain Lakes | NJT | ||
| Denville | Denville | NJT | NJT Morristown Line joins MCM10 |
|
| Dover | Dover | NJT | Morristown Line electric train storage yard MCM 2, 10 buses |
|
| Mount Arlington | Mount Arlington, under construction | NJT | ||
| Roxbury | Lake Hopatcong | NJT | ||
| Port Morris | NJT | Diesel Train Storage Yard and future Lackawanna Cutoff split | ||
| Netcong | Netcong | NJT | ||
| Mount Olive | Mount Olive | NJT | International Trade Center | |
| Hackettstown | Hackettstown | NJT | NJT 973 bus, WHEELS Shuttle | |
| Midtown Direct service | ||||
| 0 | New York City | New York Penn Station | NJT | Long Island Rail Road, Amtrak, New York City Subway, New York City Bus, MTA Bus |
| Secaucus | Secaucus Junction | NJT | All NJT Rail lines except the Atlantic City Line and Raritan Valley Line, NJT 2, 129, 172 buses | |
[edit] External links
- Notice of Exemption for Norfolk Southern on the old Boonton Line
- clevercommute.com, a grassroots information-sharing network of Montclair Branch and DeCamp bus riders
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|---|---|
| Hoboken Division | Erie Lines: Bergen – Main – Pascack Valley – Port Jervis Morris and Essex: Gladstone Branch and Morristown Line Montclair-Boonton |
| Newark Division | North Jersey Coast – Northeast Corridor – Princeton Branch – Raritan Valley – Atlantic City |
| Light rail | HBLR – Newark Light Rail – River Line |
| Connections | Aldene – Hunter – Kearny – Montclair – Secaucus – Waterfront |
| Other information | Stations – Retired fleet - System map |
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|---|---|
| General information | NJT buses and bus fleet • NJT rail |
| Bus routes | 1-99, 100-199, 300-399, 400-449, 450-499, 500-549, 550-599, 600-699, 700-799, 800-849, Wheels, Morris County Metro |
| Rail lines | Hoboken Division: Main • Bergen County • Port Jervis • Pascack Valley • Montclair-Boonton Morris & Essex (Morristown Line and Gladstone Branch) Newark Division: North Jersey Coast • Northeast Corridor (including Princeton Branch) • Raritan Valley • Atlantic City |
| Light rail | HBLR • Newark Light Rail • River Line |
