Line(s) Raritan Valley Line Connections NJT Bus: 94 and 113(S) Opened 30 April 1967 Platforms in use 1 | Tracks 2 Fare zone 7 Owner Norfolk Southern Railway | |
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Location 24 West Lincoln Avenue at Chestnut Street,
Roselle Park, NJ, 07204 Owned by Norfolk Southern Railway Address Roselle Park, NJ 07204, United States Similar Benson Street station, Fairmount Avenue station, Highland Avenue station, Annandale station, Mountain Avenue Station | ||
Ringling bros and barnum bailey circus train at roselle park station
Roselle Park is a New Jersey Transit railroad station in Roselle Park, New Jersey. Located on Conrail's Lehigh Line on West Lincoln Avenue between Chestnut Street and Locust Street], it is served by Raritan Valley Line trains that travel between Newark Penn Station and Raritan. There is also limited service to High Bridge and New York Penn Station and one weekday morning train to Hoboken Terminal.
Contents
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History
The station is located at milepost 16.0 on the Conrail Lehigh Line. This is the former Lehigh Valley Railroad mainline, built in 1832 by LV subsidiary Newark & Roselle Railway. The second station to stand on the property, it was built in 1967 during the Aldene Plan. The project was a joint project 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 Central Railroad of New Jersey trains (one of NJ Transit's predecessor railroads) to Pennsylvania Station in Newark, New Jersey rather than the CNJ's aging Jersey City terminal in Jersey City, New Jersey.
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.
In Spring 1997, negotiations began for the joint purchase of Conrail by CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern Railway. The Surface Transportation Board officially approved the acquisition and restructuring of Conrail on July 23rd, 1998. The approved restructuring plan transformed Conrail into a private, non-common carrier switching and terminal railroad that operates on behalf of its owners, using rolling stock and locomotives supplied by its owners. Property was divided using a system of railroad heritage, bringing ownership of the route and Roselle Park station to Norfolk Southern Railway. The purchase, often referred to as the "Conrail split" by railroaders, was made final on April 1st, 1999.
Currently, the station is served by 53 weekday and 36 weekend New Jersey Transit trains.
Station platform design
The station platform design is that of a center island platform. Eastbound and westbound trains are capable of operating on any track the Conrail North Jersey Train Dispatcher chooses at any time. This is called NORAC Rule 261. No specific track serves a specific direction. Locals refer to the vortex winds created by two simultaneous passing trains as "Vertigo".
Freight operations
The station has a gauntlet track (a slightly shifted-over track) on the track 2 side that allows freight trains to pass the high level platform safely. Currently, freight operations past the station are operated by Conrail, CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern Railway. The route has become a critical artery in transcontinental transportation, particularly for intermodal, retail and petrochemical traffic. Tonnage over this route reaches as far west as Chicago and Los Angeles, south to Atlanta and Jacksonville, and east to Vermont and Maine.
Listening in
Operations through Roselle Park are controlled by the Conrail North Jersey Train Dispatcher on a frequency of 160.86000Mhz (AAR Channel 50). West of Roselle Park, NJTransit trains operate on a frequency of 161.23500MHz (AAR Channel 75).