Susquehanna Transfer

SUSQUEHANNA TRANSFER
The former Susquehanna Transfer station site in 2014. Route 495 is overhead.
Location	Route 3 at Tonnelle Avenue (U.S. Route 1/9), North Bergen, Hudson County, New Jersey 07047
Owned by	New York, Susquehanna and Western Railroad
Line(s)	New York, Susquehanna and Western Railroad Northern Branch (Erie Railroad)
Platforms	1 island platform
Tracks	2 NYS&W, 1 Northern Branch
History
Opened	August 1, 1939 (NYS&W) September 25, 1939 (Erie Railroad)
Closed	September 30, 1966
Electrified	Not electrified
Services
Preceding station   Erie Railroad   Following station Pavonia Terminal Terminus New York, Susquehanna and Western Railroad North Bergen toward Stroudsburg Northern Branch North Bergen toward Nyack

Susquehanna Transfer was a passenger station on the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway, located in North Bergen, New Jersey at the Route 495 overpass. It was an interchange station where transfer was possible from the railroad to a bus through the Lincoln Tunnel to the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown Manhattan.

The station opened on August 1, 1939, 1,100 feet (340 m) south of the old North Bergen station. At the time, the company was in bankruptcy proceedings, as part of the also bankrupt Erie Railroad. The buses were leased from the Public Service Bus Company and were open only to NYS&W passengers transferring to them. The bus fare was 15 cents. The buses allowed commuters to go directly to the Times Square area, rather than taking the train to the Pavonia Terminal over the Erie Railroad's tracks and then taking an Erie RR ferry across to Manhattan.

The Erie Railroad also used the transfer station for trains on its Northern Branch, at least through 1957 [1], with an agreement with the NYS&W to use their buses in 1944.

Walter Kidde, who was the trustee-in-bankruptcy for the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railroad after filing for bankruptcy reorganization in 1937, noticed that most commuter traffic was heading to Midtown Manhattan, and that the major railroads in the area had or little or no service to Midtown. The Lincoln Tunnel had been completed in 1937, and Kidde offered the idea that it might be faster for commuters to head to Midtown by connecting with bus companies that used State Highway Route S-3. A couple years later, Railway Age noted that it was common to backtrack from the Erie Railroad's Pavonia Ferry terminal at Chambers Street to midtown. This new connection would save money for commuters from Paterson, Hackensack and Butler to get service to Times Square.