Union (NJT station)

Union
Union Station sign, hanging from entryway
Location	Union, New Jersey
Coordinates	40°41′0″N 74°14′19″W / 40.68333°N 74.23861°W / 40.68333; -74.23861Coordinates: 40°41′0″N 74°14′19″W / 40.68333°N 74.23861°W / 40.68333; -74.23861
Owned by	New Jersey Transit (Structure) / Norfolk Southern Railway (Land)
Line(s)	Raritan Valley Line
Platforms	1 island platform
Tracks	2
Connections	NJT Bus: 26 and 52
Construction
Platform levels	1
Parking	Yes
Bicycle facilities	Yes
Disabled access	Yes
Other information
Fare zone	5
History
Opened	2003
Traffic
Passengers (2012)	1,355 (average weekday)
Services
Preceding station   NJ Transit Rail   Following station Roselle Park toward High Bridge Raritan Valley Line Newark Penn Station toward Hoboken or New York Penn Station

Union is a New Jersey Transit railroad station in Union County, New Jersey. Located on the Conrail Lehigh Line, Union is served by Raritan Valley Line trains that travel between Newark Penn Station and Raritan. There is also limited service to and from High Bridge and New York Penn Station and one morning train to Hoboken Terminal. The physical structures of the station are owned by New Jersey Transit, however the land remains property of Norfolk Southern Railway, in accordance with the 1999 buyout of Consolidated Rail Corporation by Norfolk Southern Railway and CSX Corporation.

The station is located at milepost 14.6 on the Conrail Lehigh Line. This is the former Lehigh Valley Railroad mainline, built in 1832 by LV subsidiary Newark & Roselle Railway. The Township of Union had been served until the 1940s by Townley station, 0.5 miles to the east at milepost 14.1. With the station demolished by the Lehigh Valley Railroad in the 1940s, officials decided not to add a stop in 1967 during the Aldene Project. The project was a joint program between the railroads, NJDOT, and Port Authority of New York and New Jersey which elevated trackage above ground level to eliminate grade crossings and rerouted which elevated the railroad above ground level and rerouted Central Railroad of New Jersey trains (one of NJ Transit's predecessor railroads) to Pennsylvania Station in Newark, New Jersey.[2]

When bankruptcy struck the Central Railroad of New Jersey, the CNJ was forced to fold into the Consolidated Rail Corporation on April 1, 1976. On that date, the New Jersey Department of Transportation took over commuter rail operations. In 1981 the State of New Jersey created New Jersey Transit to oversee all commuter operations, rail and bus, in the state. Since then, NJTransit has continued to operate and improve services on the Raritan Valley Line service.