Bay Street (NJT station)

Bay Street
The station at Bay Street in February 2015.
Location	43 Glenridge Avenue Montclair, New Jersey 07042
Coordinates	40°48′28″N 74°12′32″W / 40.8079°N 74.2089°W / 40.8079; -74.2089Coordinates: 40°48′28″N 74°12′32″W / 40.8079°N 74.2089°W / 40.8079; -74.2089
Owned by	New Jersey Transit
Line(s)	Montclair-Boonton Line
Platforms	2 high-level side platforms
Tracks	2
Connections	NJT Bus: 11, 28, and 29 DeCamp: 33 Montclair Jitney
Construction
Parking	Parking garage of 248 spaces
Bicycle facilities	Bike racks
Disabled access	Yes
Other information
Fare zone	5
History
Opened	February 27, 1981
Rebuilt	2002
Electrified	1981
Traffic
Passengers (2012)	1,288 (average weekday)
Services
Preceding station   NJ Transit Rail   Following station Walnut Street toward Hackettstown Montclair-Boonton Line Glen Ridge toward Hoboken or New York Penn 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. The first station of six in Montclair, Bay Street is the southernmost, servicing the downtown district. The station was built originally in 1981 to replace the Lackawanna Terminal built near Grove Street in 1913 as a part of creating the Montclair Connection. Upon its opening on February 27, 1981, Bay Street was a lone platform with a single shelter. In 2002, as part of the Montclair Connection, Bay Street was completely rebuilt to standards for handicapped persons, including two high-level platforms and a new elevator for a bridge crossing the tracks. The station also received honors in July 2010 for the development around the station and as a result was a part of getting Montclair designated a Transit Village, by the New Jersey Department of Transportation, under the Transit Village Initiative.

Bay Street station is the first of six stations in the township of Montclair, located on Pine Street between Bloomfield Avenue (County Route 506) and Glenridge Avenue. The station has two high-level platforms to serve passengers on its two tracks. The platforms themselves are connected by a crossover bridge with elevators and have ticket vending machines. The station has a 248-space parking garage and a smaller lot a block away. Eight of those spots are handicapped accessible and maintained by the Montclair Parking Authority. There are continuing maintenance issues regarding the station and parking deck, and neither NJ Transit nor the municipality admit responsibility for the station building.

Bay Street station is a major stop on the Montclair-Boonton Line as every train serving it stops here. This is the terminal for all weekend service except for several special holiday trains that go to Lake Hopatcong station.

The station was built in 1981 to replace Montclair's previous station, Lackawanna Plaza, two blocks to the west of the current station. Lackawanna Plaza (also known as Lackawanna Terminal) was once the grand terminal opened in 1913 by the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad for its Montclair Branch. The station's usage had been relegated from six tracks served by three platforms to one platform serving one station and the branch had gone from two tracks down to one. The station last served passenger trains in February 26, 1981, and the next day, trains, then operated by Conrail, were realigned to the east in Montclair, serving a new station, named Bay Street. At that time, Bay Street was originally a bare platform with only one track and a small shelter. The realignment was the first phase for the planned Montclair Connection to connect the Montclair Branch to the Boonton Line. This station now served as the terminus of the Montclair Branch, and as a result, the end of electrification.