The Bergen County Line is a
commuter rail
Commuter rail or suburban rail is a Passenger train, passenger rail service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting Commuting, commuters to a Central business district, central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter town ...
line and service owned and operated by
New Jersey Transit in the
U.S. state of
New Jersey
New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
. The line loops off the
Main Line between the
Meadowlands and
Glen Rock, with trains continuing in either direction along the Main Line. It is colored on NJT system maps in grey, and its symbol is a
cattail, which are commonly found in the Meadowlands where the line runs.
Some trains of
Metro-North Railroad
The Metro-North Commuter Railroad Company , also branded as MTA Metro-North Railroad and commonly called simply Metro-North, is a suburban commuter rail service operated by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), a New York State publ ...
's
Port Jervis Line also operate over the line. The
Norfolk Southern Railway provides freight service along the line via
trackage rights.
As on the Main Line, trains are powered by
diesel locomotives operated
push-pull, consisting of
Comet
A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that warms and begins to release gases when passing close to the Sun, a process called outgassing. This produces an extended, gravitationally unbound atmosphere or Coma (cometary), coma surrounding ...
or
MultiLevel coaches.
History

From a point in
Secaucus, just south of the
Hackensack River bridge near the former
Harmon Cove station, to a point in
East Rutherford north of the
Rutherford station, the Bergen County Line uses the former
Erie Railroad Main Line. This portion was opened in 1833 by the
Paterson and Hudson River Railroad and leased by the
New York and Erie Rail Road in 1852. The rest of the line, from East Rutherford north to Glen Rock, opened in 1881 as the
Bergen County Railroad.
Until the late 1950s, the main function of the Erie's Bergen County Cutoff was as a freight (and long-distance express) bypass of the at-grade Main Line through Passaic. Commuter service was relatively minor. In 1963 the
Lackawanna Boonton Branch up to
Paterson (with a small portion of the Erie's
Newark Branch) became the new Erie-Lackawanna Main Line. This was caused by the abandonment of the Main Line section through downtown
Passaic and construction of
Interstate 80 using the old Boonton Branch right-of-way in Paterson. The old Main Line east of Rutherford was now exclusively part of the Bergen County Line.
Prior to the opening of
Secaucus Junction
Secaucus Junction (signed as Secaucus) is an intermodal transit hub served by New Jersey Transit Rail Operations, New Jersey Transit (NJ Transit) and Metro-North Railroad in Secaucus, New Jersey, Secaucus, New Jersey. It is one of the List of b ...
in 2003, Bergen County Line trains used a longer stretch of the old Erie Main Line in Secaucus, extending south to
Croxton Yard and a merge with the former Lackawanna Boonton Branch. A curving track was built between the HX Drawbridge at
Hackensack River and the Main Line west of Secaucus Junction to allow Bergen County Line trains to use the new station.
[
]
Secaucus train collision
On February 9, 1996, a Bergen County Line train collided with a Main Line train, killing 3 people and injuring 162.["NEAR HEAD-ON COLLISION AND DERAILMENT OF TWO NEW JERSEY TRANSIT COMMUTER TRAINS NEAR SECAUCUS, NEW JERSEY FEBRUARY 9, 1996"](_blank)
National Transportation Safety Board It was the New York City area and New Jersey's worst train accident since the 1958 Newark Bay rail accident when at least 48 people died.
2007 Ridgewood Junction derailment
On February 21, 2007, a Bergen County Line train suffered a minor derailment after passing over an improperly repaired switch at Ridgewood Junction.
Service
West of Secaucus Junction, the Bergen County Line tracks diverge from the Main Line over a new right-of-way opened on December 15, 2003, connecting the Main Line with the Bergen County Line. During this stretch and traveling westbound, the Hackensack River is to the left, while warehouse and manufacturing facilities on Meadowlands Parkway are to the right. A former station, Harmon Cove, was located nearby along the old Erie right-of-way and served the nearby community between 1978 and 2003.
Soon the train joins the old Erie Main Line right-of-way and crosses the Hackensack over HX Bridge, a two-track bascule draw. For the next two miles, the train crosses the Meadowlands, under the New Jersey Turnpike western spur with the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford visible in the distance to the right. Here, the track parallels Berrys Creek and eventually crosses it just before passing below Route 3.
Beyond Route 3, the landscape changes to industrial. Office buildings line the side of the track, some serviced by sidings. The Pascack Valley Line soon splits off to the right at Pascack Junction, and the train then crosses Route 17 and approaches the Rutherford station.
For a half-mile the train passes residences on either side, then swings right, abandoning the old Erie Main Line at , and passes through industrial areas with several grade crossings. Soon, the tracks form the border of Carlstadt and Wallington. Presently the train passes Wood-Ridge and South Hackensack before reaching the Wesmont station, which opened on May 15, 2016. The train then swings left, crossing the Saddle River, and then right, into Garfield reaching the Garfield station.
The train continues northward through Garfield, passing homes, businesses, and Dahnerts Lake County Park before reaching the Plauderville station at Midland Avenue, the border between Garfield and neighboring Saddle Brook. Shortly after passing beneath U.S. Highway 46 the track becomes the border of Saddle Brook and Elmwood Park, once again crossing Midland Avenue. Interstate 80 passes above the train, which then crosses the Garden State Parkway
The Garden State Parkway (GSP) is a Controlled-access highway, controlled-access toll road that stretches the north–south length of eastern New Jersey from the state's southernmost tip near Cape May, New Jersey, Cape May north to the New York ...
. The Broadway station in Fair Lawn straddles a border formed by the track and Route 4.
In Fair Lawn, the line is paralleled by Plaza Road, named for Radburn Plaza, the commercial area serving the Radburn development for which the borough's more northerly station is named. The line crosses below Route 208 before reaching Radburn. Beyond the station, the train passes housing to the right and industry to the left, with a spur to a Nabisco
Nabisco (, abbreviated from the earlier name National Biscuit Company) is an American manufacturer of cookies and snacks headquartered in East Hanover, New Jersey. The company is a subsidiary of Illinois-based Mondelēz International.
Nabisco' ...
plant. Next is the Glen Rock–Boro Hall station which like its Main Line counterpart is on Rock Road. The lines merge a short distance north of this point at Ridgewood Junction. The trains will continue north to either Waldwick or Suffern, and some peak trains will terminate at Ridgewood, which is the first station after the two lines join.
Stations
Bibliography
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References
{{New Jersey Transit Rail
NJ Transit Rail Operations
Transportation in Bergen County, New Jersey
Erie Railroad
Transportation in Orange County, New York
Transportation in Rockland County, New York
Rail lines in Rockland County, New York
Erie Railroad lines