Pascack Valley Line

The Pascack Valley Line is a commuter rail line operated by the Hoboken Division of New Jersey Transit, in the United States. The line runs north from Hoboken Terminal, through Hudson County and Bergen County in New Jersey, and into Rockland County in New York, terminating at Spring Valley. Service within New York State is operated under contract with Metro-North Railroad. The line is named for the Pascack Valley region that it passes through in northern Bergen County. The line parallels the Pascack Brook for some distance. The line is colored purple on system maps, and its symbol is a pine tree.

Pascack Valley Line
A Hoboken Terminal-bound train at River Edge.
Overview
OwnerNew Jersey Transit
LocaleNorthern New Jersey and Hudson Valley, New York, United States
TerminiSouth: Hoboken Terminal in Hudson County, New Jersey
North: Spring Valley in Rockland County, New York
Stations18
Service
TypeCommuter rail
SystemNew Jersey Transit Rail Operations
Metro-North Railroad
Operator(s)New Jersey Transit
Rolling stockF40PH-3C/GP40PH-2/GP40FH-2/PL42AC/ALP-45DP locomotives
Comet V
Daily ridership7,200 (weekday average, FY 2012)[1]
Technical
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8 12 in)
Route map

NJ&NY RR Haverstraw Branch
31.2 mi
50.2 km
Woodbine Yard
30.6 mi
49.2 km
Spring Valley
NJ&NY RR New City Branch
27.9 mi
44.9 km
Nanuet
25.4 mi
40.9 km
Pearl River
24.2 mi
38.9 km
Montvale
23.6 mi
38 km
Park Ridge
22.7 mi
36.5 km
Woodcliff Lake
Hillsdale Manor
21.4 mi
34.4 km
Hillsdale
20.5 mi
33 km
Westwood
19.3 mi
31.1 km
Emerson
17.8 mi
28.6 km
Oradell
New Milford
16.4 mi
26.4 km
River Edge
14.7 mi
23.7 km
New Bridge Landing
13.5 mi
21.7 km
Anderson Street
Passaic Street
Central Avenue
12.4 mi
20 km
Essex Street
US 46
11.2 mi
18 km
Teterboro
Hasbrouck Heights
9.6 mi
15.4 km
Wood-Ridge
Carlstadt
7.6 mi
12.2 km
N.J. Turnpike (Western Spur)
5.6 mi
9 km
N.J. Turnpike (Eastern Spur)
Secaucus Junction
Hoboken Yard
0.0 mi
0 km
Hoboken Terminal

Description

The Pascack Valley Line runs between Spring Valley, New York, and Hoboken Terminal. The line is 31 miles (50 km) long, of which the northernmost 6 miles (9.7 km) are in New York State. The entire line is owned by NJ Transit, but the Pearl River, Nanuet and Spring Valley stations are leased to Metro-North Railroad. The line is single tracked, but sidings at points along the line, including the Meadowlands, Hackensack and Nanuet, permit bi-directional off-peak service. A siding in Oradell was also planned for increased service and reliability, but the project was halted due to local opposition.[2][3] Service on this line operates seven days a week.[4]

History

The line was originally chartered as the Hackensack and New York Railroad in 1856. It later became the New Jersey and New York Railroad, which was bought by the Erie Railroad in 1896. The New Jersey and New York Railroad continued to exist as an Erie subsidiary until October 17, 1960 merger that created the Erie Lackawanna Railroad.[5]

On April 1, 1976 the Erie Lackawanna was merged with several other railroads to create Conrail.[6][7] In 1983, after several years under operation by Conrail, operations of the Pascack Valley Line were transferred to NJ Transit Rail Operations.

The line used to continue north of Spring Valley to Haverstraw, New York. This portion of the line has been abandoned and most of the right-of-way has been sold off. Part of the line (between Spring Valley and Nanuet) was once part of the main Erie Railroad line from Piermont, New York to Buffalo, New York. Into the 1930s there had been Erie passenger service from Spring Valley at the end of the Pascack line to Suffern station on the newer Erie Main Line.[8] By 1941, this was reduced to a single weekday trip in each direction.[9]

In August 2020, amidst the financial repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Metropolitan Transit Authority said that it would shut down service on the line if federal bailout money were not available.[10]

September 2016 crash

On September 29, 2016, Pascack Valley Line Train 1614 crashed into Hoboken Terminal injuring 108 and killing one.[11]

Rolling stock

All service on this line is diesel, using either GP40PH-2, F40PH, PL42AC, or ALP-45DP locomotives. Most trains on the line use Comet series passenger cars, although Bombardier MultiLevel coaches are sometimes used on this line.

Some train sets use equipment owned by Metro-North, which are so marked.

Stations

State Zone[12] Location Station[12] Milepost (km) Date opened Date closed Connections[12]
NJ 1 Hoboken Hoboken Terminal 0.0 (0.0) 1903 NJ Transit Rail: Bergen County, Gladstone, Main, Meadowlands, Montclair-Boonton, Morristown, North Jersey Coast, Raritan Valley lines
Metro-North Railroad: Port Jervis Line
Hudson-Bergen Light Rail: 8th Street-Hoboken, Hoboken-Tonnelle lines
PATH: HOB-WTC, HOB-33, JSQ-33 (via HOB)
NJ Transit Bus: 22, 23, 63, 64, 68, 85, 87, 89, 126
New York Waterway to Battery Park City
Secaucus Secaucus Junction 3.5 (5.6) December 15, 2003[13] NJ Transit Rail (upper level): Gladstone, Montclair-Boonton, Morristown, Northeast Corridor, North Jersey Coast, and Raritan Valley lines
NJ Transit Rail (lower level): Bergen County, Main, and Meadowlands lines
Metro-North Railroad: Port Jervis Line
NJ Transit Bus: 2, 78, 129, 329, 353
3 Carlstadt Carlstadt 1861 1967[14]
Wood-Ridge Wood-Ridge 9.6 (15.4) 1861
Hasbrouck Heights Hasbrouck Heights 1861 1967[14]
4 Teterboro 11.2 (18.0) May 29, 1904[15] Formerly Williams Avenue
5 Hackensack Essex Street 12.4 (20.0) 1861 NJ Transit Bus: 76, 712, 780
Central Avenue 1870 1953
Passaic Street
Anderson Street 13.5 (21.7) September 9, 1869[16] NJ Transit Bus: 175, 770
Fairmount Avenue March 4, 1870[14] 1983[17]
6 River Edge New Bridge Landing 14.7 (23.7) March 4, 1870[14] NJ Transit Bus: 175, 762
Rockland Coaches: 11
River Edge 16.4 (29.4) 1900 NJ Transit Bus: 175, 762
Rockland Coaches: 11
New Milford March 4, 1870
7 Oradell Oradell 17.8 (28.6) March 4, 1870[18] NJ Transit Bus: 175, 762
Rockland Coaches: 11
8 Emerson Emerson 19.3 (31.1) March 4, 1870 NJ Transit Bus: 165
Rockland Coaches: 11
9 Westwood Westwood 20.5 (33.0) March 4, 1870[19] NJ Transit Bus: 165
Rockland Coaches: 11, 14, 46, 84
Hillsdale Hillsdale 21.4 (34.4) March 4, 1870[19] Rockland Coaches: 11
Hillsdale Manor
10 Woodcliff Lake Woodcliff Lake 22.7 (36.5)
Park Ridge Park Ridge 23.6 (38.0) 1872
Montvale Montvale 24.2 (38.9) 1871[20] Rockland Coaches: 11
NY MNR Orangetown Pearl River 25.6 (41.2) 1870[21] Transport of Rockland: 92
Clarkstown Nanuet 27.9 (44.9) June 30, 1841[22][23] Transport of Rockland: 92
Rockland Coaches: 11
Spring Valley Spring Valley 30.6 (49.2) June 30, 1841[22][23] Transport of Rockland: 59, 91, 92, 94, Monsey Loop 3, Tappan ZEExpress
Rockland Coaches: 11, 45

Bibliography

  • Mott, Edward Harold (1899). Between the Ocean and the Lakes: The Story of Erie. New York, New York: John S. Collins. Retrieved July 31, 2020.

References

  1. "NJ TRANSIT QUARTERLY RIDERSHIP TRENDS ANALYSIS November 2012" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on April 19, 2013. Retrieved December 16, 2016.
  2. Pascack Valley Line Right-of-Way Improvement Project. New Jersey Transit, January 2006.
  3. NJ TRANSIT RAMPS UP PROJECT TO PROVIDE BI-DIRECTIONAL, OFF-PEAK SERVICE ON PASCACK VALLEY LINE: Project also makes way for rail service to the Meadowlands, press release dated May 11, 2005
  4. PASCACK VALLEY LINE CUSTOMERS TO GET IMPROVED SERVICE THIS FALL, New Jersey Transit Press Release August 16, 2007 Accessed September 13, 2007
  5. "Conrail merger family tree | Trains Magazine". Retrieved September 30, 2016.
  6. "Erie Lackawanna Historical Society". www.erielackhs.org. Retrieved September 30, 2016.
  7. Grant, H. Roger (October 1, 1996). Erie Lackawanna: The Death of an American Railroad, 1938-1992. Stanford University Press. p. 208. ISBN 9780804727983. erie lackawanna conrail 1976.
  8. 'Official Guide of the Railways,' August 1936, Erie Railroad section, Table 47
  9. 'Official Guide of the Railways,' June 1941, Erie Railroad section, Table 38
  10. Thomas Zambito, "Rockland/Westchester News" August 26, 2020 'MTA Could eliminate Pascack Valley, Port Jervis Lines if Federal Bailout Doesn't Come Through'
  11. A New Jersey Train Crash Has Left at Least 100 People Injured Esquire By Associated Press; September 29, 2016
  12. "Pascack Valley Line Timetables - November 19, 2014 edition" (PDF). New York, New York: New Jersey Transit Rail Operations. 2014. Retrieved November 26, 2014.
  13. Frassinelli, Mike (June 5, 2013). "U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg gets one last ride at the Secaucus station that bears his name". The Star-Ledger. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
  14. Jones, Wilson E. (1996). The Pascack Valley Line - A History of the New Jersey and New York Railroad. East Hanover, New Jersey: Railroadians of America. p. 44. ISBN 0-941652-14-9.
  15. "Miscellaneous Locals". The Evening Record and Bergen County Herald. Hackensack, New Jersey. May 28, 1904. p. 3. Retrieved July 30, 2020 via Newspapers.com.
  16. "Hackensack and New-York Railroad" (PDF). The New York Times. New York, New York: Time Warner. September 9, 1869. Retrieved January 9, 2010.
  17. Pascack Valley Line Timetables. Newark, New Jersey: New Jersey Transit. 1982.
  18. "50th Anniversary Greetings". The Bergen Record. Hackensack, New Jersey. June 2, 1944. p. 14. Retrieved February 15, 2019 via Newspapers.com.
  19. Backus, Kathleen S. (March 21, 1957). "Removal of Historic Buildings Excites Interest in Borough". The Bergen Evening Record. Hackensack, New Jersey. p. 5. Retrieved December 25, 2018 via Newspapers.com.
  20. Cheslow, Jerry (April 1, 1990). "If You're Thinking of Living in: Montvale". The New York Times. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
  21. Cassetta, James Vincent (2014). Images of America: Pearl River. Arcadia Publishing. p. 7. ISBN 9781467121552.
  22. Mott 1899, p. 331.
  23. Seymour, HC (October 28, 1841). "Eastern Division of the New York and Erie Railroad". The Evening Post. New York, New York. p. 1. Retrieved July 31, 2020 via Newspapers.com.
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