The Bergen County Line is a

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 ...

line and service owned and operated by

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 ...

in the U.S. state of

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 Delawa ...

. 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 ''Typha'' is a genus of about 30 species of monocotyledonous flowering plants in the family Typhaceae. These plants have a variety of common names, in British English as bulrush or reedmace, in American English as reed, cattail, or punks, in ...

, which are commonly found in the Meadowlands where the line runs. Some trains of

Metro-North Railroad Metro-North Railroad , trading as MTA Metro-North Railroad, is a suburban commuter rail service run by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), a public authority of the U.S. state of New York and under contract with the Connectic ...

's Port Jervis Line also operate over the line. The

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 ...

provides freight service along the line via

trackage rights Railway companies can interact with and control others in many ways. These relationships can be complicated by bankruptcies. Operating Often, when a railroad first opens, it is only a short spur of a main line. The owner of the spur line may ...

. As on the Main Line, trains are powered by

diesel Diesel may refer to: * Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression * Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines * Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engi ...

locomotives operated push-pull, consisting of

Comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena ...

MultiLevel Multilevel or multi-level may refer to: * A hierarchy, a system where items are arranged in an "above-below" relation. * A system that is composed of several layers. * Bombardier MultiLevel Coach The Bombardier MultiLevel Coach is a bi-leve ...

coaches.

History

From a point in

Secaucus Secaucus ( ) is a town in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States census, the town's population was 16,264,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 The Erie Railroad was a railroad that operated in the northeastern United States, originally connecting New York City — more specifically Jersey City, New Jersey, where Erie's Pavonia Terminal, long demolished, used to stand — with Lake ...

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 The Erie Railroad was a railroad that operated in the northeastern United States, originally connecting New York City — more specifically Jersey City, New Jersey, where Erie's Pavonia Terminal, long demolished, used to stand — with Lake Erie ...

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 The Boonton Branch refers to the railroad line in New Jersey that was completed in 1870 and ran 34 miles (54.8 km) from Hoboken to East Dover Junction as part of the Morris & Essex Railroad (M&E). Although the branch hosted commuter trains ...

up to Paterson (with a small portion of the Erie's

Newark Branch The Newark Branch was a branch of the Erie Railroad in New Jersey, United States, running between Jersey City and Paterson with stops in the Broadway Section in North Newark. Inaugurated in the 1870s, the line was last used for passenger serv ...

) became the new Erie-Lackawanna Main Line. This was caused by the abandonment of the Main Line section through downtown

Passaic Passaic ( or ) is a city in Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city had a total population of 70,537, ranking as the 16th largest municipality in New Jersey and an increase of 656 from the 69, ...

and construction of

Interstate 80 Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from downtown San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one ...

using the old Boonton Branch right-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 (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 ...

in 2003, Bergen County Line trains used a longer stretch of the old Erie Main Line in Secaucus, extending south to

Croxton Yard Croxton may refer to: Places *Croxton, Cambridgeshire, England * Croxton, Lincolnshire, England *Croxton, Jersey City, New Jersey, USA *Croxton, Norfolk, England *Croxton, Staffordshire, England *Croxton Kerrial Croxton Kerrial (pronounced �k ...

and a merge with the former Lackawanna Boonton Branch. A curving track was built between the HX Draw at

Hackensack River The Hackensack River is a river, approximately 45 miles (72 km) long, in the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, emptying into Newark Bay, a back chamber of New York Harbor. The watershed of the river includes part of the subur ...

and the Main Line west of Secaucus Junction to allow Bergen County Line trains to use Secaucus Junction.

Secaucus train collision

On February 9, 1996, a Bergen County Line train collided with a Main Line train killing 3 people and 162 were injured."NEAR HEAD-ON COLLISION AND DERAILMENT OF TWO NEW JERSEY TRANSIT COMMUTER TRAINS NEAR SECAUCUS, NEW JERSEY FEBRUARY 9, 1996"
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 where 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 industrial plants 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 high-rise apartments nearby 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 The New Jersey Turnpike (NJTP) is a system of controlled-access highways in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The turnpike is maintained by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA).The Garden State Parkway, although maintained by NJTA, is not cons ...

western spur with the

Meadowlands Sports Complex The Meadowlands Sports Complex is a sports complex located in East Rutherford, in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. The facility is owned and operated by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority (NJSEA). The complex currently con ...

in East Rutherford visible in the distance to the right. Here, the track parallels

Berrys Creek Berry's Creek (sometimes referred to as ''Berrys Creek'' or ''Berry Creek'') is a tributary of the Hackensack River in the New Jersey Meadowlands in Bergen County, New Jersey. The creek watershed contains a diverse array of wetlands, marshes, and ...

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 Broadway station in Fair Lawn straddles a border formed by the track and

Route 4 Route 4, or Highway 4, may refer to several highways in the following countries: International * AH4, Asian Highway 4 * European route E04 * European route E004 * Cairo – Cape Town Highway Albania * SH-4 road in Albania from Durres to Kakav ...

. 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