Jersey Avenue (NJT station)

Jersey Avenue
The Trenton-bound tracks of Jersey Avenue facing northward towards Newark. Newark-bound trains do not use this track when stopping at Jersey Avenue.
Location	Jersey Avenue Park & Ride New Brunswick, NJ, 08903 United States
Coordinates	40°28′41″N 74°28′16″W / 40.478194°N 74.470997°W / 40.478194; -74.470997Coordinates: 40°28′41″N 74°28′16″W / 40.478194°N 74.470997°W / 40.478194; -74.470997
Owned by	New Jersey Transit
Line(s)	Northeast Corridor
Platforms	1 side platform, with crossovers for only 2 cars
Tracks	5
Construction
Parking	Yes
Bicycle facilities	Yes
Other information
Fare zone	14
History
Opened	October 24, 1963
Traffic
Passengers (2012)	1,588 (average weekday)
Services
Preceding station   NJ Transit Rail   Following station Princeton Junction toward Trenton Northeast Corridor Line New Brunswick toward New York Penn Station
Location
Jersey Avenue Location within New Brunswick, NJ

Jersey Avenue is a New Jersey Transit station on the Northeast Corridor Line in New Brunswick, New Jersey. It is near Jersey Avenue, in an industrial area next to a New Jersey Transit rail yard. Unlike all other stations on the Northeast Corridor Line, Jersey Avenue has low-level platforms (the rest are elevated), and, since there is no wheelchair ramp, it is the only station on the line that is not handicapped-accessible. Jersey Avenue opened in October 1963 as part of an experimental park and ride program.

Jersey Avenue has a different layout than most New Jersey Transit stations. While it has two platforms, one for trains heading south toward Trenton Transit Center and one for trains heading north toward New York Penn Station, the northbound platform is not positioned across the track from the southbound platform as would normally be the case for most New Jersey Transit stations (especially those along the Northeast Corridor, which have a wider gap between platforms due to an extra track in each direction used by Amtrak). Instead, the northbound platform is set behind the southbound platform and the platforms are separated by a parking lot. With this layout, northbound trains cannot service Jersey Avenue and thus bypass the station en route to New York. Some southbound trains do terminate at Jersey Avenue, using a siding that is also used by special northbound trains that originate at the station.

In April 2014 NJT approved a contract for a design for relocation and rebuilding station platform to permit high-level boarding, along with pedestrian overpass, vertical circulation, improved parking, and bus connection areas, as well as improvements to 5 miles of the existing Delco freight line to make it a 130 kilometers per hour (80 miles per hour) main line track for passenger trains. As of 2015, additional design and engineering work to reconfigure the station was funded, but no construction date has been scheduled.

The New Brunswick Parking Authority manages the parking lot at Jersey Avenue. Parking costs $180/quarter as of January 1, 2010. There is currently a waiting list of 2 years. Daily parking is available in the white numbered spaces at the rear of the overflow lot for $6.00/day. Spaces in private lots adjacent to the station are available for $75–$100 per month.

The conception of the Jersey Avenue station dates back to July 16, 1963, when officials for the Pennsylvania Railroad and then-governor Richard J. Hughes broke ground on a new station and freight depot along the line by the Tri-State Transportation Committee. The new station was started as an 18-month experiment done by the committee to provide people with access from the railroad to their cars in a new park and ride. The station cost $256,185 (1963 USD) and supplemented the New Brunswick station 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north on Albany, Wall and Easton Streets. The new station, slated to open in October, was to be funded by grants from the state and federal governments, and was the inception for a new mass transit system. The station opened October 24, 1963.