![Montclair Connection South](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bb/Montclair_Connection_South.png)
The Montclair Connection is a short section of double-track railroad on the
NJ Transit Rail Operations
NJ Transit Rail Operations is the rail division of NJ Transit. It operates commuter rail service in New Jersey, with most service centered on transportation to and from New York City, Hoboken, and Newark. NJ Transit also operates rail service i ...
system in
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
, United States, connecting the former end of the Montclair Branch at
Bay Street station
Bay Street is a New Jersey Transit station on Pine Street between Bloomfield and Glenridge Avenues in Montclair, New Jersey, along the Montclair-Boonton Line. The station is served by all trains on the line, including all ten weekend trains. Th ...
to the old Boonton Line southeast of
Walnut Street station.
The connection opened on Monday, September 30, 2002, at a cost of $63 million. At the same time, Bay Street Station was rebuilt and
Montclair State University station
Montclair State University, signed as Montclair State University Station at Little Falls, is a NJ Transit rail station in the Great Notch area of Little Falls, New Jersey on the Montclair-Boonton Line.
History
The station, which opened on Octo ...
was built. The Montclair and Boonton lines were combined into the
Montclair-Boonton Line
The Montclair-Boonton Line is a commuter rail line of New Jersey Transit Rail Operations in the United States. It is part of the Hoboken Division. The line is a consolidation of three individual lines: the former Delaware, Lackawanna & Western R ...
, and passenger service was ended on the former Boonton Line east of the connection; the line was single-tracked and used by
Norfolk Southern Railway
The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31 ...
for freight for a time; it is currently out of service. Disuse has caused sections of the line to become derelict, in particular east of 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, ...
where
DB and
WR drawbridges have been condemned. As part of the project, three Boonton Line stations were closed on September 20, 2002;
Benson Street,
Rowe Street, and
Arlington.
![Montclair Connection North](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/Montclair_Connection_North.png)
The Montclair Connection was built to give passengers on the Boonton Line direct access to
New York Penn Station
Pennsylvania Station, also known as New York Penn Station or simply Penn Station, is the main inter-city rail, intercity railroad station in New York City and the List of busiest railway stations in North America, busiest transportation facilit ...
; prior to the change, Boonton Line trains could only go to
Hoboken Terminal
Hoboken Terminal is a commuter-oriented intermodal passenger station in Hoboken, Hudson County, New Jersey. One of the New York metropolitan area's major transportation hubs, it is served by nine NJ Transit (NJT) commuter rail lines, one Metr ...
. The idea for the connection was first proposed in 1929 when the Regional Plan Association proposed linking the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad's Montclair Branch with the Erie Railroad's Greenwood Lake Branch, but the plan was abandoned due to the economic difficulties associated with the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
.
The merger between the
Erie
Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 a ...
and
Lackawanna Railroads in 1960 sped up the reconfiguration that was completed in March 1963, when the former
Erie Main Line
The Main Line (or Erie Main Line) is a commuter rail line owned and operated by New Jersey Transit running from Suffern, New York to Hoboken, New Jersey, in the United States. It runs daily commuter service and was once the north–south main ...
was connected to the Lackawanna’s Boonton Line south of
Paterson station to form today’s Main Line. Meanwhile, the
Boonton Line west of
Mountain View station was linked to the Erie’s Greenwood Lake Branch to form the current Boonton Line.
The reconfiguration again spurred the Montclair Connection idea, and in preparation, service was cut back from
Lackawanna Terminal to Bay Street by Conrail in 1981. But the proposal was introduced until the late 1980s, when New Jersey Transit proposed for a one-track connection that would have accommodated only diesel trains. Later, the plans were revised to include a two-track connection and five miles of overhead catenary wires, allowing for electric train service and increased travel destinations. After negotiations with the
Township of Montclair, an agreement was reached in 1998, and construction began in 1999.
References
External links
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{{Coord, 40.8102, -74.2073, name=Montclair Connection (NJT), display=title
2002 establishments in New Jersey
Railway lines opened in 2002
NJ Transit Rail Operations
Montclair, New Jersey
Transportation in Essex County, New Jersey