Paterson station

Paterson
Looking at Paterson's Market Street station from street level.
General information
Coordinates	40.9146°N 74.1673°W / 40.9146; -74.1673
Owned by	New Jersey Transit
Line(s)
Platforms	1 island platform
Tracks	2
Connections	NJT Bus: 161, 703, 707, 712, 744, 746, 748
Construction
Parking	124 spaces
Accessible	Yes
Other information
Station code	2303 (Erie Railroad)
Fare zone	6
History
Opened	1930
Rebuilt	2001
Passengers
2012	677 (average weekday)
Services
Preceding station   NJT   Following station Template:NJT stations toward Template:NJT stations Template:NJT lines Template:NJT stations toward Template:NJT stations Preceding station   Erie   Following station Template:Erie stations toward Template:Erie stations Template:Erie lines Template:Erie stations toward Template:Erie stations

Paterson Station is a commuter rail train station located in downtown Paterson, New Jersey. The railway through the station is double tracked, for north and south traffic on the New Jersey Transit Main Line. Rail and station are on an elevated viaduct.

The station has entrances on Market Street and Ward Street (just east of Memorial Drive). An elevator on the Ward Street side of the platform provides handicapped access. Other streets converging at or immediately near the station are 16th Avenue, Park Avenue, Memorial Drive, and Railroad Avenue.

Originally a single track at grade, the elevated station was built between 1924-30 when the Erie Railroad eliminated street level crossings on its Main Line in Paterson. That Main Line was severed in the early 1960s, south of the Paterson station, to be replaced with a single-track connection to the former [[Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad|Lackawanna] Boonton Branch. The eastern portion of the Boonton Branch and the vestigial Erie Main Line combined to become the new Main Line of the combined Erie-Lackawanna Railroad. These changes were part of a major upheaval in the railroad system; both Erie and Lackawanna predecessors merged to avoid bankruptcy, and arranged with the City of Passaic, and the Federal government, to tear up most of the existing Erie Main Line. The old Main Line cut through busy downtown Passaic at grade, disturbing traffic patterns, and the Boonton right of way at Garrett Mountain was ideal for the new Interstate 80 being planned at the time. With the demolition of these portions of both of those lines, the new Main Line created out of their remainders.

From this station to Hoboken the Main Line takes a direct route, over the Boonton Branch connection mentioned above. However, until the service changes mentioned above, service went to Erie's Jersey City station, with additional service along the Newark Branch that went south through Clifton, Nutley, Belleville, northern Newark, and then going east through Kearny.

The EL went bankrupt in the early 1970s. Conrail took over its operations, but the Main Line did not fit Conrail's plans. The severing of various freight lines and the new ocnnections required to create a contiguous east-west line through New Jersey to Pennsylyvania was circuitous and involved fairly steep ruling grades. As a result, Conrail wished to abandon all freight operations on the former E-L lines. The State of New Jersey agreed to take over the "E-L" commuter lines from Conrail. The Main Line saw little to no freight traffic after this transfer. Some maps still list the trackage as Conrail or Erie-Lackawanna.

New Jersey Transit extensively refurbished the station in 1999-2001; few vestiges of the old station remain.

External links

Media related to Paterson (NJT station) at Wikimedia Commons

• Market Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Ward Street entrance from Google Maps Street View