Rahway station is an

NJ Transit New Jersey Transit Corporation, branded as NJ Transit or NJTransit and often shortened to NJT, is a state-owned public transportation system that serves the U.S. state of New Jersey and portions of the states of New York and Pennsylvania. I ...

train station in

Rahway, New Jersey Rahway () is a city (New Jersey), city in southern Union County, New Jersey, Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. A bedroom community of New York City, it is centrally located in the Rahway River, Rahway Valley region, in the New ...

. It is served by the

Northeast Corridor Line The Northeast Corridor Line is a commuter rail service operated by NJ Transit between the Trenton Transit Center and New York Penn Station on Amtrak's Northeast Corridor in the United States. The service is the successor to Pennsylvania Railroad ...

and

North Jersey Coast Line The North Jersey Coast Line is a Commuter rail in North America, commuter rail line running from Rahway, New Jersey, Rahway to Bay Head, New Jersey, traversing through the Jersey Shore region. Operated by New Jersey Transit, the line is electr ...

. Rahway is just northeast of the Perth Amboy Junction, where the Northeast Corridor and the North Jersey Coast lines split at Union Tower. The Northeast Corridor has six tracks at the station; southbound trains use an

island platform An island platform (also center platform (American English) or centre platform (British English)) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway inte ...

between the two westernmost tracks, while northbound trains use an

adjacent to the easternmost track.

History

The first station at Rahway opened on January 1, 1836. It was destroyed by fire on November 12, 1884; a new station was completed in 1885. In November 1911, the

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad ( reporting mark PRR), legal name as the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, also known as the "Pennsy," was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At its ...

(PRR) awarded $3 million in construction contracts for a project to eliminate grade crossings in Rahway and Linden. The project raised of the line, eliminating 14 grade crossings; , , and Rahway stations were rebuilt. The four-track line was widened to six tracks. The elevated Rahway station opened in late July 1913. It had two island platforms and one side platform. The two-story station building had terra cotta walls and a tile roof. An under-track tunnel led to elevators to the island platforms; stairs connected the platforms to Milton and Irving streets. The PRR became part of

Penn Central The Penn Central Transportation Company, commonly abbreviated to Penn Central, was an American class I railroad that operated from 1968 to 1976. Penn Central combined three traditional corporate rivals, the Pennsylvania, New York Central and the ...

in 1968.

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

took over intercity service in May 1971 and served Rahway station until November 1975. Local service was operated by Penn Central until 1976,

Conrail Conrail , formally the Consolidated Rail Corporation, was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeastern United States between 1976 and 1999. The trade name Conrail is a portmanteau based on the company's legal name. It continues to do busine ...

until 1983, then NJ Transit. The

New Jersey Department of Transportation The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) is the agency responsible for transportation issues and policy in New Jersey, including maintaining and operating the state's highway and public road system, planning and developing transport ...

approved $560,000 (later increased to $833,000) for renovations to the station. Construction began in February 1974 and was completed in August 1975. The 1913-opened station building was rebuilt with a new interior and a brick-and-steel facade; a shelter was added on the remaining island platform. Another reconstruction took place from January 1996 to August 1998 at a cost of $12.6 million. The 1970s building was replaced with a new structure, the platforms were rebuilt, and new elevators were added for accessibility. The city purchased a commercial building on the east side of the station in 1998 and demolished it in 1999. The building site and an adjacent street were replaced with an public plaza in 2000 at a cost of $600,000.

References

External links

{{Pennsylvania Railroad New York Division stations, state=collapsed NJ Transit Rail Operations stations Railway stations in Union County, New Jersey Former Amtrak stations in New Jersey Stations on the Northeast Corridor Stations on the North Jersey Coast Line Rahway, New Jersey Railway stations in the United States opened in 1836 1836 establishments in New Jersey Former Pennsylvania Railroad stations