New Brunswick station is a railroad station in New Brunswick, New Jersey. It serves

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 ...

and

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 ...

trains on the Northeast Corridor. The station is located at the intersection of Easton Avenue and French and Albany Streets, near the

College Avenue Campus College Avenue is the oldest campus of Rutgers University – New Brunswick, in New Brunswick, New Jersey, U.S. It includes the historic seat of the university, known as Old Queens and the campus of the New Brunswick Theological Seminary. Man ...

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...

Service

The station has two high-level

side platform A side platform (also known as a marginal platform or a single-face platform) is a platform positioned to the side of one or more railway tracks or guideways at a railway station, tram stop, or transitway. A station having dual side platform ...

s serving the outer tracks of the four-track Northeast Corridor. NJ Transit's

Northeast Corridor Line The Northeast Corridor Line is a commuter rail service operated by NJ Transit between the Trenton Transit Center and New York Penn Station on Amtrak's Northeast Corridor in the United States. The service is the successor to Pennsylvania Railroad ...

calls at the station. Most of

's Northeast Corridor services bypass the station via the inner tracks, except for select ''Keystone Service'' and ''Northeast Regional'' trains and the weekday westbound ''Palmetto''. Northbound ''Crescent'' trains stop in New Brunswick as well.

History

Train service to New Brunswick was begun by the New Jersey Railroad, northbound in 1838 and southbound in 1839. Its successor, Pennsylvania Railroad, built the current station in 1903 when the tracks were raised above street level. Service was eventually taken over by

Penn Central 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 ...

and then

and New Jersey Transit. In 2005, the '' Clocker'' trains, a popular commuter service serving the station, were transferred to NJT. In October 2015 the southbound '' Palmetto'' began stopping here. The depot was designed in the Colonial Revival style and includes walls of light brown brick, hipped roof with gabled dormers and a deep cornice with dentil molding at its base. Brick quoins at the corners of the building convey an impression of strength and solidity. Windows display a popular Georgian Revival pattern of 9-over-1. Sills are incorporated into a stone belt course that wraps around the building, while lintels are embellished with prominent keystones. The design is similar to that of the

Chester Transportation Center The Chester Transportation Center is a SEPTA bus and train station in Chester, Pennsylvania. The outside portion of the ground level serves SEPTA City Transit Division Route 37, and Suburban Transit Division Routes 109, 113, 114, 117, 118, and 119 ...

in Pennsylvania. The station building was listed on the

New Jersey Register of Historic Places The New Jersey Register of Historic Places is the official list of historic resources of local, state, and national interest in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The program is administered by the New Jersey's state historic preservation office with ...

and

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

since 1984, and is part of the Operating Passenger Railroad Stations Thematic Resource.

Urban transit hub

In 2005 the station was designated the core of the New Brunswick

transit village A transit village is a pedestrian-friendly mixed-use district or neighborhood oriented around the station of a high-quality transit system, such as rail or B.R.T. Often a civic square of public space abuts the train station, functioning as the hu ...

, a

smart growth Smart growth is an urban planning and transportation theory that concentrates growth in compact walkable urban centers to avoid sprawl. It also advocates compact, transit-oriented, walkable, bicycle-friendly land use, including neighborhood sc ...

initiative to promote

transit-oriented development In urban planning, transit-oriented development (TOD) is a type of urban development that maximizes the amount of residential, business and leisure space within walking distance of public transport. It promotes a symbiotic relationship between ...

which can include government incentives to encourage compact, higher density, mixed-use development within walking distance of the station. In addition to

New Jersey Transit bus operations NJ Transit Bus Operations is the bus division of NJ Transit, providing bus service throughout New Jersey along with service along one light rail line, with many routes going to New York City and Philadelphia. In , the bus system had a ridershi ...

and Rutgers Campus buses, the station is served by local shuttles known as Brunsquick and DASH. Studies are underway to develop the New Brunswick Bus Rapid Transit system, of which the station would be the hub. NJ 18 and NJ 27, which intersect at the station, would function as the two major corridors for a bus network that would connect downtown, residential neighborhoods, the five campuses of Rutgers in the city and

Piscataway Piscataway may refer to: *Piscataway people, a Native American ethnic group native to the southern Mid-Atlantic States *Piscataway language *Piscataway, Maryland, an unincorporated community *Piscataway, New Jersey, a township *Piscataway Creek, Ma ...

, and proximate communities. New Brunswick is one of nine cities in New Jersey designated as eligible for Urban Transit Hub Tax Credits by the state's Economic Development Authority. Developers who invest a minimum of $50 million within of a train station are eligible for pro-rated

tax credit A tax credit is a tax incentive which allows certain taxpayers to subtract the amount of the credit they have accrued from the total they owe the state. It may also be a credit granted in recognition of taxes already paid or a form of state "dis ...

. The Gateway is one such project located just to the north of station and connected by a new pedestrian bridge, creating a direct link to the Rutgers campus. It is the tallest building in the city and one of several new projects in the vicinity of the station that has led to a revitalization of the city's downtown surrounding it. Another planned building, a 16-story residential tower at Somerset Street located one block north of the station, is the second UTHTC-approved project in the city.

High-speed rail corridor

In August 2011 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 a ...

obligated $450 million to a six-year project to improve of the Northeast Corridor between New Brunswick and Trenton. The Next Generation High-Speed project is to upgrade electrical power, signals, and overhead catenary wires to improve reliability and increase speed to , and with new trains to .

Renovation and upgrades

In 2019 Amtrak earmarked funds for improvement at the station. NJ Transit allocated $49 million in September 2022 for renovation and upgrades of the station.

Bibliography

References

External links

New Brunswick Amtrak & New Jersey Transit Station (USA RailGuide -- Train Web)

NJDOT Liberty Corridor project description

George Street entrance from Google Maps Street View

Easton Avenue entrance from Google Maps Street View

Albany Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
{{NRHP in Middlesex County, New Jersey NJ Transit Rail Operations stations Buildings and structures in New Brunswick, New Jersey Railway stations in the United States opened in 1838 Railway stations in Middlesex County, New Jersey Stations on the Northeast Corridor Amtrak stations in New Jersey National Register of Historic Places in Middlesex County, New Jersey Railway stations on the National Register of Historic Places in New Jersey New Jersey Register of Historic Places Railway stations in New Jersey at university and college campuses Former Pennsylvania Railroad stations 1838 establishments in New Jersey