Pennsylvania Station (also known as Newark Penn Station) is an intermodal passenger station in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat, seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County and the second largest city within the New Yo ...

. One of the

New York metropolitan area The New York metropolitan area, also commonly referred to as the Tri-State area, is the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban area, urban landmass, at , and one of the list of most populous metropolitan areas, most populous urban agg ...

's major transportation hubs, Newark Penn Station is served by multiple rail and bus carriers, making it the seventh-busiest rail station in United States, and the fourth-busiest in the New York area. Located at Raymond Plaza, between Market Street and Raymond Boulevard, it is served by three NJ Transit commuter rail lines, the Newark Light Rail, the PATH rapid transit system, and all 11 of

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada. ...

Northeast Corridor The Northeast Corridor (NEC) is an electrified railroad line in the Northeast megalopolis of the United States. Owned primarily by Amtrak, it runs from Boston through Providence, New Haven, Stamford, New York City, Philadelphia, Wilmington, ...

services, including the ''

Acela The ''Acela'' ( ; originally the ''Acela Express'' until September 2019) is Amtrak's flagship service along the Northeast Corridor (NEC) in the Northeastern United States between Washington, D.C. and Boston via 13 intermediate stops, inclu ...

''. The station is also Newark's main

intercity bus An intercity bus service ( North American English) or intercity coach service (British English and Commonwealth English), also called a long-distance, express, over-the-road, commercial, long-haul, or highway bus or coach service, is a public ...

terminal; it is served by carriers

Greyhound The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Since the rise in large-scale adoption of retired racing Greyhounds, the breed has seen a resurgenc ...

, Bolt, and

Fullington Trailways The Trailways Transportation System is an American network of approximately 70 independent bus companies that have entered into a brand licensing agreement. The company is headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia. History The predecessor to Trailwa ...

. Additionally, it is served by 33 local and regional bus lines operated by NJ Transit Bus Operations and Coach USA (Orange-Newark-Elizabeth).

History

McKim, Mead & White McKim, Mead & White was an American architectural firm that came to define architectural practice, urbanism, and the ideals of the American Renaissance in fin de siècle New York. The firm's founding partners Charles Follen McKim (1847–1909), Wil ...

, the same team behind the Pennsylvania Railroad's famed original

New York Penn Station Pennsylvania Station, also known as New York Penn Station or simply Penn Station, is the main intercity railroad station in New York City and the busiest transportation facility in the Western Hemisphere, serving more than 600,000 passengers ...

twelve miles to the east, the station has

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unit ...

and Neo-Classical features. The main waiting room has medallions showing the history of transportation, from wagons to steamships to cars and airplanes, the eventual doom of the railroad age. Chandeliers are decorated with

Zodiac The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north or south (as measured in celestial latitude) of the ecliptic, the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. The pa ...

signs. The building was dedicated on March 23, 1935; the first regular train to use it was a New York–

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

express at 10:17 on March 24. 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, all tracks are above street level. It was to be one of the centerpieces of

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name 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. It was named ...

's (PRR's) train network, and to become a transfer point to the

Hudson and Manhattan Railroad Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) is a rapid transit system in the northeastern New Jersey cities of Newark, Harrison, Jersey City, and Hoboken, as well as Lower and Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is operated as a wholly owned ...

(now PATH), which was partially funded by the PRR, for travel to

lower Manhattan Lower Manhattan (also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York) is the southernmost part of Manhattan, the central borough for business, culture, and government in New York City, which is the most populated city in the United States with ...

. PRR then scheduled 232 weekday trains through Newark, about two-thirds of them to or from New York Penn Station and the rest to/from Jersey City. The station itself, the adjacent 230-foot Dock Bridge over the

Passaic River Passaic River ( ) is a river, approximately long, in Northern New Jersey. The river in its upper course flows in a highly circuitous route, meandering through the swamp lowlands between the ridge hills of rural and suburban northern New Jersey, ...

(the longest three-track railway lift span in existence at the time) and the realignments of the Newark City Subway (now Newark Light Rail) and H&M cost $42 million, borne almost evenly by the PRR and the City of Newark. The City Subway extension and H&M realignment opened on June 20, 1937, and the nearby Manhattan Transfer station was closed, along with the H&M's original Park Place station. The Port of New York Authority (now the

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, PANYNJ; stylized, in logo since 2020, as Port Authority NY NJ, is a joint venture between the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, established in 1921 through an interstate compact authorize ...

) bought the bankrupt H&M Railroad and reorganized it as

Port Authority Trans-Hudson Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) is a rapid transit system in the Gateway Region, northeastern New Jersey cities of Newark, New Jersey, Newark, Harrison, New Jersey, Harrison, Jersey City, New Jersey, Jersey City, and Hoboken, New Jersey, H ...

in 1962. New Jersey Department of Transportation's Aldene Plan redirected

Central Railroad of New Jersey The Central Railroad of New Jersey, also known as the Jersey Central or Jersey Central Lines , was a Class I railroad with origins in the 1830s. It was absorbed into Conrail in April 1976 along with several other prominent bankrupt railroads of ...

and

Reading Railroad The Reading Company ( ) was a Philadelphia-headquartered railroad that provided passenger and commercial rail transport in eastern Pennsylvania and neighboring states that operated from 1924 until its 1976 acquisition by Conrail. Commonly call ...

trains from

Communipaw Terminal The Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal, also known as Communipaw Terminal and Jersey City Terminal, was the Central Railroad of New Jersey's waterfront passenger terminal in Jersey City, New Jersey. The terminal was built in 1889, replacing ...

in Jersey City to Newark Penn Station in 1967. The Pennsylvania Railroad merged with longtime rival

New York Central Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Mi ...

in 1968 to form

Penn Central Railroad 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 ...

, but Newark kept the name "Penn Station." In 1970, Penn Station became the sole intercity station in Newark when the

Erie Lackawanna The Erie Lackawanna Railway , known as the Erie Lackawanna Railroad until 1968, was formed from the 1960 merger of the Erie Railroad and the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad. The official motto of the line was "The Friendly Service Route" ...

ran its last intercity trains through Broad Street Station. After Amtrak took over inter-city service in 1971, Penn Central continued to operate commuter service, despite being bankrupt. In 1976 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 transportat ...

acquired Penn Central, Reading and Jersey Central passenger service, which included lines from as far away as Philadelphia's SEPTA diesel service along the West Trenton Line, with

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 bus ...

operating service under contract.

New Jersey Transit New Jersey Transit Corporation, branded as NJ Transit, and often shortened to NJT, is a state-owned public transportation system that serves the U.S. state of New Jersey, along with portions of New York State and Pennsylvania. It operates bu ...

acquired the rail line north of West Trenton in 1982, and established its rail operations division in 1983, acquiring almost all commuter rail service from Conrail within the state. 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. In August 2019 the

United States Department of Transportation The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT or DOT) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is headed by the secretary of transportation, who reports directly to the President of the United States and ...

awarded $18.4 million to NJ Transit to rehabilitate and repair Platform "D" that serves Tracks 3 & 4 and is a major transfer point for Amtrak and NJ Transit.

Current operations

Despite being from New York Penn, the busiest train station in North America, Newark Penn is a major station in its own right. In 2014 it was the 14th busiest station in the Amtrak system, the eighth busiest in the Mid-Atlantic region (behind New York Penn, Washington Union,

, Baltimore Penn, Albany-Rensselaer, BWI Airport and Wilmington) and by far the busiest of the six Amtrak stations in New Jersey. This is mainly because since the 1970s, it has been the only intercity rail station in heavily populated northeastern New Jersey. It is served by all 11 services running along the

, providing a second option for Amtrak riders traveling through the New York area. Newark Penn Station carries the

IATA airport code An IATA airport code, also known as an IATA location identifier, IATA station code, or simply a location identifier, is a three-character alphanumeric geocode designating many airports and metropolitan areas around the world, defined by the ...

of ZRP.

New Jersey Transit

Three

NJ Transit New Jersey Transit Corporation, branded as NJ Transit, and often shortened to NJT, is a state-owned public transportation system that serves the U.S. state of New Jersey, along with portions of New York State and Pennsylvania. It operates bu ...

commuter rail Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter rail systems are con ...

lines converge here: the Northeast Corridor Line,

North Jersey Coast Line The North Jersey Coast Line is a commuter rail line running from Rahway to Bay Head, New Jersey, traversing through the Jersey Shore region. Operated by New Jersey Transit, the line is electrified as far south as Long Branch. On rail system m ...

and the

Raritan Valley Line The Raritan Valley Line is a commuter rail service operated by New Jersey Transit (NJT) which serves passengers in municipalities in Union, Somerset, and Hunterdon counties in the Raritan Valley region in central New Jersey, United States. ...

. The former two continue to New York via

Secaucus Junction Secaucus Junction (known as Secaucus Transfer during planning stages and signed simply as Secaucus) is a NJ Transit Rail Operations commuter rail hub in Secaucus, New Jersey. The $450 million, station opened on December 15, 2003, and was ded ...

, with the North Jersey Coast Line and Raritan Valley Line offering limited service to Hoboken. The Raritan Valley Line generally terminates here, with the exception of select trains that continue to New York and one inbound weekday train that continues to Hoboken. Due to the wide availability of these routes, as well as the ''

Northeast Regional The ''Northeast Regional'' is an intercity rail service operated by Amtrak in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic United States. In the past it has been known as the ''NortheastDirect'', ''Acela Regional'', or ''Regional''. It is Amtrak's busi ...

'' and ''

Acela Express The ''Acela'' ( ; originally the ''Acela Express'' until September 2019) is Amtrak's flagship service along the Northeast Corridor (NEC) in the Northeastern United States between Washington, D.C. and Boston via 13 intermediate stops, inclu ...

,'' passengers are not usually allowed to use Amtrak's long distance trains to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

, or

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

for local travel between Newark and New York.

PATH

Newark Penn is the western terminus of the

Newark–World Trade Center Newark–World Trade Center is a rapid transit service operated by the Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH). It is colored red on the PATH service map and trains on this service display red marker lights. This service operates from Pennsylvania S ...

line of the PATH train, operated by the

. Trains discharge on Platform H (upper level) and return to service on the lower level (platform B/C). Until the opening of

in 2003, NJ Transit commuter rail passengers and Amtrak intercity passengers had to transfer to PATH here in order to reach

Jersey City Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.Hoboken Hoboken ( ; Unami: ') is a city in Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 60,417. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 58,69 ...

Newark Light Rail

On the lower level is the southern terminus of the Newark Light Rail (formerly the Newark City Subway), with three outbound tracks and two inbound tracks. Passengers on this light rail system from Newark and its nearby suburbs can transfer to Amtrak, NJ Transit or PATH trains, or travel to Newark Broad Street or

downtown Newark Downtown Newark is the Central Business District of Newark in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. Downtown is the site of the original Puritan settlement of Newark located at a bend in the Passaic River. The first settlers, led by Robert ...

. The Broad Street extension, opened in 2006, was intended to ease transfers between the former

commuter routes that call at Broad Street and the Amtrak and former PRR commuter routes that call at Newark Penn. Previously, passengers had to make their own way (usually by taxi or bus) between the two stations.

Tracks and platforms

Newark Penn has 8 tracks and 6 platforms for both NJT and PATH (Newark Light Rail not included), but PATH trains from NYC arrive on the upper level and ones from South Street arrive on the lower level. *Track A is less used and has a side platform, usually for Raritan Valley Line arrivals. Trains relay and lay-up at Hudson Yard in Harrison before returning on Track 5 for the reverse trip. Occasionally used by Amtrak trains to New York Penn Station. *Track 1 is normally used by New Jersey Transit trains to New York Penn Station and is served by an island platform shared with Track M. *Track 2 is typically used by northbound Amtrak and New Jersey Transit express trains, but is also used during the PM rush for westbound

express trains. This track has an island platform that is shared with track M. *Track 3 is usually used by southbound Amtrak trains, though westbound New Jersey Transit Northeast Corridor Line express trains will often use this track in the evening rush hours. This platform has an island platform shared with track 4. *Track 4 is normally used by westbound New Jersey Transit trains traveling via

Newark Airport Newark Liberty International Airport , originally Newark Metropolitan Airport and later Newark International Airport, is an international airport straddling the boundary between the cities of Newark in Essex County and Elizabeth in Union Co ...

or Rahway. *Track 5 is usually used by westbound Raritan Valley Line trains and weekend eastbound Raritan Valley Line trains terminating. This track has a side platform. This track has closed periodically since 2013. *Track M is the track for departing PATH trains to World Trade Center in

Lower Manhattan Lower Manhattan (also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York) is the southernmost part of Manhattan, the central borough for business, culture, and government in New York City, which is the most populated city in the United States with ...

. *Track H is for discharging PATH trains. This upper-level track, which did not have turnstiles until SmartLink ones were installed in 2005, has stairs to Track 2, along with ramps to Tracks 3 and 4, and a separate stairway to Track 5. Trains relay and lay-up south of the station before returning on Track M for the trip to World Trade Center. There are two pairs of crossover switches south of the station for that purpose, as well as a center track from which trains can be reversed quickly.

Platform layout

Note: Shows platform layouts only, not the actual station layout.

Gallery

Newark Penn Station June 2015 002.jpg, Main entrance at night Newark Pennsylvania Station interior.jpg, Interior of main waiting room, featuring an information booth File:NJ Transit train at Newark Penn Station.jpg, A multi-level NJ Transit train at Newark Penn Station Image:Ramp track 3&4 Newark Penn jeh.jpg, Pedestrian ramp Image:Newark Penn Station Main Corridor.jpg, Main corridor to tracks

Sources and notes

External links

Newark Pennsylvania Station (USA RailGuide -- TrainWeb)
{{PRR Main Line stations Newark Newark Newark Light Rail stations located underground Newark PATH stations in New Jersey PATH stations located above ground Newark Former SEPTA Regional Rail stations Former Reading Company stations Transportation in Newark, New Jersey Transit centers in the United States Bus transportation in New Jersey Transit hubs serving New Jersey McKim, Mead & White buildings Railway stations in the United States opened in 1935 Railway stations on the National Register of Historic Places in New Jersey Buildings and structures in Newark, New Jersey Art Deco architecture in New Jersey 1935 establishments in New Jersey