1.
NJ Transit Rail Operations
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NJ Transit Rail Operations is the rail division of NJ Transit. It provides commuter service in New Jersey, with most service centered on transportation to and from New York City, Hoboken. NJ Transit also operates service in Orange and Rockland counties in New York under contract to Metro-North Railroad. This does not include NJ Transits light rail operations, as of 2012, NJ Transits commuter rail network consists of 11 lines and 164 stations, primarily concentrated in northern New Jersey, with one line running between Atlantic City and Philadelphia. The former Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines Atlantic City Line is also included in the Newark Division, Conrail, CSX, Norfolk Southern and several short lines currently have trackage rights contracts to operate freight service on NJ Transit lines. The Morristown & Erie Railway can only use NJT trackage to get between its owned trackage, it cannot serve customers on NJ Transit trackage, a similar situation exists for Conrail on the Atlantic City Line. These lines were purchased by the New Jersey Department of Transportation in the late 1970s for railbanking purposes, other major yard facilities are located at Hoboken Terminal. Amtraks Sunnyside Yard in Queens, New York serves as a facility for trains to New York Penn Station. Additional yards are located at outlying points along the lines, there are eight non-revenue work diesels used for these purposes. Equipment owned by Metro-North carries AAR reporting marks MNCW without exception and these locomotives carry NJTR reporting marks for revenue service. Not included are the EMU cars, which are technically locomotives, ONLY active revenue locomotives are listed, retired equipment is unlisted. All non-revenue locomotives are diesel-powered and legally carry the same NJTR AAR reporting marks as all other equipment without exception, as these locomotives lack HEP, they do not haul trains in passenger service unless performing a rescue. NJ Transit has a fleet of over 1,000 passenger cars, the fleet and examples are described below. Except for the Comet IIM, all examples shown are cab cars leading or on the end of trains. Car groupings are, except for the Arrow III MUs, arranged in the order, cab cars, trailers with lavatories, and trailers without lavatories. Single Arrow III MUs are GE Model MA-1J, married pairs are GE Model MA-1H, NJ Transit provides passenger service on 12 lines at total of 165 stations, some operated conjunction with Amtrak and Metro North. NJ Transit NJ Transit Rail Draft 2012 State Rail Plan
2.
Secaucus, New Jersey
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Secaucus is a town in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. Secaucus is a derivation of the Algonquian words for black and snake, or place of snakes, or sekakes, sikakes, once an island, was part of the territory purchased by Director-General of New Netherland, Peter Stuyvesant in 1658. Settlement had begun by at least 1733 by the Smith family, Secaucus was originally formed as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 12,1900, from portions of North Bergen. On June 7,1917, Secaucus was incorporated as a town, replacing Secaucus borough, Secaucus was originally an agricultural community specializing in flowers. It later became known for its pig farms in the first half of the 20th century, in the early 1900s the town was home to approximately 55 pig farms, which housed nearly 250,000 pigs, which outnumbered humans 16 to 1. These farms served the demands of Newark and New York. Many of them were politicians, most notably pork peddler Henry B. Krajewski, who ran for New Jersey senator, three times for governor and twice for U. S. President, the towns pig farms, rendering plants, and junk yards gave the town a reputation for being one of the most odorous in the New York metropolitan area. In the 1950s the pig began to dwindle, partially due to construction on the New Jersey Turnpike. In 1963, debris from the demolition of Pennsylvania Station was dumped in the Secaucus Meadowlands, in later decades Secaucus became more of a commuter town. In a non-binding referendum in 1969, 90% of voters in Secaucus chose to leave Hudson County and join Bergen County, however, only the state has the authority to change county lines, so it never came to fruition. Today it remains the most suburban town in Hudson County, New Jersey Monthly magazine ranked Secaucus as its 182nd best place to live in its 2010 rankings of the Best Places To Live in New Jersey, after ranking the borough 11th in its 2008 rankings. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town had an area of 6.599 square miles. At the southern end of Secaucus is Snake Hill, an igneous rock intrusion jutting up some 150 feet from the Meadowlands below. Being partly surrounded by the Hackensack Meadowlands, Secaucus provides opportunities to observe the recovery of natural marshes in the towns post industrial, the Hackensack River and its tributary Mill Creek create the other borders for the district. The North End is one of the older, traditional residential neighborhoods of Secaucus which itself has been transformed to a town and retail. It is home to Secaucus High School, whose fields are used by the Bergen County Scholastic League. Nearby Schmiddts Wood is one of the last original hardwood forests in urban North Jersey, as part of the New Jersey Meadowlands District, the areas along the river are characterized by wetlands preservation and restoration areas
3.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
4.
NJ Transit
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NJT also acts as a purchasing agency for many private operators in New Jersey, with numerous private operators receiving equipment from NJT for route service within the state not controlled by NJT. NJT was founded on July 17,1979, an offspring of the New Jersey Department of Transportation and it came into being with the passage of the Public Transportation Act of 1979 to acquire, operate, and contract for transportation service in the public interest. NJT originally acquired and managed a number of bus services, one of the largest being those operated by the states largest electric company. It gradually acquired most of the bus services. In northern New Jersey, many of the bus routes are arranged in a web, in southern New Jersey, most routes are arranged in a spoke-and-hub fashion, with routes emanating from Trenton, Camden, and Atlantic City. Since inception, rail ridership has quadrupled, in the 1990s the rail system expanded, with new Midtown Direct service to New York City and new equipment. On October 21,2001, it opened a new station at Newark Liberty International Airport, on October 31,2005, NJT took over Clocker service from Amtrak. Four new trains were added to the schedule, but cut back to Trenton, during Hurricane Sandy in October 2012, the rail operations center of NJ Transit was flooded by 8 feet of water and an emergency generator submerged. Floodwater damaged at least 65 locomotive engines and 257 rail cars, the Governor of New Jersey appoints a seven-member Board of Directors, four members from the general public and three State officials. The Governor has veto power on decisions made by the board, for buses around Trenton, and NJ Transit Rail Operations, Inc. for commuter rail. NJT operates 871 bus routes using 2,477 buses and the Newark Light Rail with 20 light rail vehicles, the bus fleet includes buses purchased for other New Jersey operators above the 2,477. The fleet consists of 52 Kinki Sharyo electric light rail vehicles owned by NJT, Newark Light Rail – two segments serving Newark and the surrounding area. The Newark City Subway has 12 stops, is 4.3 miles long, connecting Newark Penn Station to North Newark, the Broad Street Extension has five stops, is 1.0 mile long, and connects Newark Penn Station to Newark Broad Street Station. The fleet consists of 21 Kinki Sharyo electric light rail vehicles owned and operated by the Central Division of NJT Bus Operations. River Line – a 21-stop 34 miles line from Trenton to Camden along the Delaware River, mostly along the Bordentown Secondary line formerly owned by Conrail, the fleet consists of 20 Stadler GTW diesel light rail vehicles owned by NJT and operated under contract by Bombardier Transportation. NJT operates over 100 diesel locomotives, of which 11 are supplied by Metro-North Railroad as part of an agreement for the Port Jervis Line. It has over 650 push-pull cars, of which 65 are supplied by Metro-North, the New Jersey Transit Police Department is the transit police force for NJT. It is a police agency with statewide jurisdiction with the primary focus on policing the numerous bus depots, rail
5.
Northeast Corridor
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The Northeast Corridor is an electrified railway line in the Northeast megalopolis of the United States. Owned primarily by Amtrak, it runs from Boston through New York City, Philadelphia, the NEC closely parallels Interstate 95 for most of its length, and is the busiest passenger rail line in the United States by ridership and service frequency as of 2013. Branches to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and Springfield, Massachusetts, though not considered part of the Northeast Corridor, the corridor is used by many Amtrak trains, including the high-speed Acela Express, intercity trains, and several long-distance trains. Most of the corridor also has frequent commuter service, operated by the MBTA, Shore Line East, Metro-North Railroad, New Jersey Transit, SEPTA. Several companies run freight trains over sections of the NEC, much of the line is built for speeds higher than the 79 mph allowed on many U. S. tracks. Acela covers the 225 miles between New York and Washington, D. C. in under 3 hours, and the 229 miles between New York and Boston in under 3.5 hours. Under Amtraks $151 billion Northeast Corridor plan, which hopes to roughly halve travel times by 2040, the Northeast Corridor was built by several railroads between the 1830s and 1917. The route was later consolidated under two railroads, the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad between Boston and New York, and the Pennsylvania Railroad between New York and Washington, boston-Providence, Boston and Providence Railroad opened 1835, partially realigned in 1847 and in 1899. Became part of the Old Colony Railroad in 1888, providence-Stonington, New York, Providence and Boston Railroad opened 1837, partially realigned 1848. Stonington-New Haven, New Haven, New London and Stonington Railroad opened 1852-1889, New Haven-New Rochelle, New York and New Haven Railroad opened 1849. New Rochelle-Port Morris, Harlem River and Port Chester Railroad opened 1873, Port Morris-Sunnyside Yard, New York Connecting Railroad, opened 1917. Sunnyside Yard-Manhattan Transfer, Pennsylvania Tunnel and Terminal Railroad opened 1910, Manhattan Transfer-Trenton, United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company opened 1834-1839,1841, partially realigned 1863 and 1870. Trenton-Frankford Junction, Philadelphia and Trenton Railroad opened 1834, partially realigned 1911, frankford Junction-Zoo Tower, Connecting Railway opened 1867. Zoo Tower-Grays Ferry Bridge, Junction Railroad opened 1863-1866, grays Ferry-Bayview, Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad opened 1837-1838,1866,1906. Bayview Yard-Baltimore Union Station, Union Railroad opened 1873, Baltimore Union Station-Landover, Baltimore and Potomac Rail Road opened 1872. Electricity was in use on branch lines of the NYNH&H for interurban streetcars via third rail or trolley wire. The NH announced in 1905 that it would electrify its main line from New York to Stamford, electric locomotives began serving Grand Central on February 13,1907, and all NYC passenger service into Grand Central was electrified on July 1. NH electrification began on July 24 to New Rochelle, August 5 to Port Chester and October 6,1907 the rest of the way to Stamford, steam trains last operated into Grand Central on June 30,1908, after which all NH passenger trains into Manhattan were electrified
6.
Main Line (NJ Transit)
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The Main Line is a rail line owned and operated by New Jersey Transit running from Suffern, New York to Hoboken, New Jersey, in the United States. It runs daily commuter service and was once the main line of the Erie Railroad. It is colored yellow on NJ Transit system maps, and its symbol is a water wheel, the Bergen County Line splits off the Main Line just west of the Secaucus Junction transfer station and rejoins it at Ridgewood. Trains on both lines are push-pull, powered by diesel locomotives, the Erie Railroads main line ran from Jersey City to Chicago via Binghamton, New York, Buffalo, Akron, Ohio, and Marion, Indiana, with a spur to Cleveland. The section in New Jersey and lower New York State saw frequent commuter service to the waterfront Pavonia Terminal, Jersey City, the final run of this route was on January 4,1970. The Erie Jersey City terminal was abandoned circa 1959 after all Erie service had moved to the Lackawanna Hoboken Terminal, service under Erie Lackawanna introduced new GE U34CH diesels and Comet I cars in 1970 which lasted under NJ DOT and Conrail into the NJ Transit era. Metro-North took over service north of Suffern in 1983, service was increased along with the opening of the Secaucus Transfer Station in late 2003. Midway through the tunnel there are air shafts allowing light through, exiting the tunnel, the train curves right onto the Main Line at West End interlocking in Jersey City. Until 1963 this was the DL&W Boonton Branch, about a mile ahead was the connection built circa 1956 with the Erie main line, two trains collided head-on here in 1996, killing two engineers and a passenger. New Jersey Turnpike Interchange 15X is now on the Erie alignment, at Secaucus Junction all trains stop for passengers to change to and from Northeast Corridor Line North Jersey Coast Line, Raritan Valley Line and Midtown Direct trains on the upper level. The Main Line then runs through a section of Secaucus. Shortly afterwards the Bergen County Line curves right on its new connection to the Erie alignment, the Main Line then crosses over the Hackensack River on the single-track Upper Hack Lift bridge, built in 1958. Double track resumes under the New Jersey Turnpikes western spur after 0.4 mile of single track, the train continues through the Meadowlands and passes the first grade crossing at Valley Brook Avenue in Lyndhurst. The line curves slightly and passes through the 1903 Kingsland tunnel, Kingsland station is shortly after the tunnel in an open cut. Just beyond Kingsland station is Lyndhurst station, on an embankment, after Lyndhurst the train crosses the Passaic River on a swing bridge that has been bolted shut, although it is required by Federal regulation to be opened on 24 hours notice. The train passes under Route 3 and approaches Delawanna station, next stop is Passaic, on an embankment. After Passaic, the Main Line has a stretch through some areas before the Clifton station. The Main Line passes under U. S. Route 46 and the Garden State Parkway before it crosses under and over several streets in south Paterson
7.
Island platform
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An island platform is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange. Island platforms are popular on twin-track routes due to pragmatic and cost-effective reasons, an alternative arrangement is to position side platforms on either side of the tracks. The historical use of island platforms depends greatly upon the location, the island platform layout is a popular, cost-effective and practical solution in modern railway systems. Island platforms allow facilities such as escalators, elevators, shops, toilets and this is essential for wheelchair accessible stations. An island platform makes it easier for users and the infirm to change services between tracks. Additionally, an island platform layout eliminates the need to construct a crossover or subway between two platforms, however, island platforms may become overcrowded, especially at busy stations, and this can lead to safety issues such as Clapham Common and Angel on the London Underground. However, for the tracks to diverge around the platform, extra width is required along the right-of-way on each approach to the station. Track centers vary for rail systems throughout the world but are normally 3 to 5 meters, if the island platform is 6 meters wide, the tracks have to slew out by the same distance. While this is not a problem on a new line that is being constructed, in addition, a single island platform makes it quite difficult to have through tracks, which are usually between the local tracks. A common configuration in busy locations on high speed lines is a pair of island platforms, high-speed trains can therefore pass straight through the station, while slow trains pass around the platforms. This arrangement also allows the station to serve as a point where trains can be passed by faster trains. The purpose of this design was to reduce unnecessary passenger congestion at a station with a high volume of passengers. Many of the stations on the Great Central Railway were constructed in this form and this was because the line was planned to connect to a Channel Tunnel. Island platforms are a normal sight on Indian railway stations. Almost all railway stations in India consist of island platforms, in Toronto,29 subway stations use island platforms. A slight disadvantage is that crossovers have to be rather long, in southern New Jersey and Philadelphia, PATCO uses island platforms in all of its 13 stations, to facilitate one-person train operation. Most elevated stations in Singapores Mass Rapid Transit system use island platforms, the exception is Dover MRT Station, which uses side platforms as it is built on an existing rail line. The planned Canberra MRT Station will also use side platforms, as it also be built on an existing rail line
8.
Side platform
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A side platform is a platform positioned to the side of a pair of tracks at a railway station, tram stop, or transitway. Dual side platform stations, one for direction of travel, is the basic station design used for double-track railway lines. Side platforms may result in a wider overall footprint for the station compared with a platform where a single width of platform can be shared by riders using either track. In some stations, the two platforms are connected by a footbridge running above and over the tracks. While a pair of platforms is often provided on a dual-track line. Where the station is close to a crossing the platforms may either be on the same side of the crossing road or alternatively may be staggered in one of two ways. With the near-side platforms configuration, each platform appears before the intersection, in some situations a single side platform can be served by multiple vehicles simultaneously with a scissors crossing provided to allow access mid-way along its length. Normally, the facilities of the station are located on the Up platform with the other platform accessed from a footbridge. However, in cases the stations main buildings are located on whichever side faces the town or village the station serves. Larger stations may have two platforms with several island platforms in between. Some are in a Spanish solution format, with two platforms and an island platform in between, serving two tracks
9.
NJ Transit Bus Operations
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Prior to 1948, most public transportation in New Jersey was provided by the Public Service Corporation of New Jersey, a utility company that also operated the Public Service Railway division. PSCT provided service throughout New Jersey, originally using trolleys and then transitioning to trolley buses, NJ Transit came into being as the result of the New Jersey Public Transportation Act of 1979 to acquire, operate, and contract for transportation services in the public interest. NJ Transit Bus Operations came into being the year, when it acquired Transport of New Jersey from PSE&G. Other purchases and buyouts in the 1980s expanded the bus division of NJ Transit, in 1992 NJ Transit Mercer, Inc. which was the successor to the former Mercer Metro operation in the Trenton and Princeton areas, was folded into NJ Transit Bus Operations. In 2010, Morris County operations were taken over under the subsidiary NJ Transit Morris, NJ Transit Bus Operations owns, leases, or subleases over 3,000 buses, and many more have been purchased for community shuttles. Fare and route can also be further elucidated on some of the route schedules or the trip planner. 1-99, Intrastate service originating from Newark, Jersey City, Hoboken, 100-199, Routes from central and northern New Jersey to New York City. 200-299, No routes with numbers, a few existed in the 1980s to be quickly renumbered. 300-399, Special-event and park services, park-and-ride services, long-distance suburban routes from Philadelphia, 450-499, Local service within Camden, Gloucester, and Salem counties. 500-549, Atlantic County and Cape May County local routes, 550-599, Long-distance routes from Atlantic City serving points in southern New Jersey and Philadelphia. 700-799, Passaic and Bergen County local routes not entering Newark, 800-880, Middlesex, Monmouth, and Morris local routes not running to Newark. On July 11,2012, NJ Transit publicly announced that it had finalized plans to service on routes 42,43,75 and 93 effective September 1,2012. Combined with changes to service on routes 56,57,181, go28,451 and 604, NJ Transit also intended to split route 62 into two routes and expand route 99. NJ Transit Bus Operations is divided into the Northern, Central, and Southern Divisions, below is a list of all facilities and the buses housed in them. The Northern Division consists of six garages, the Central Division consists of five garages and one light rail operations facility. The Southern Division consists of four garages and these companies operate service under contract to New Jersey Transit. Service is provided using New Jersey Transit-branded buses, NJ Transit Rail Operations New Jersey Transit official website Unofficial New Jersey Transit fan page Unofficial New Jersey Transit bus map
10.
Megabus (North America)
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On April 10,2006, Stagecoach introduced a no-frills service through its Coach USA subsidiary, using the Megabus brand that it had established in the United Kingdom. Louis, Ann Arbor, Columbus, Louisville, Toledo, Detroit, Kansas City, Minneapolis, on August 8,2007, Megabus introduced service to the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Tempe, Arizona, using Coach America as a contractor. In its first foray into California, ridership was sluggish and Megabus started to discontinue services from the Los Angeles hub in early 2008, Service to the Phoenix area was discontinued in January 2008, followed by services in San Diego and San Ysidro in March 2008. In May 2008, Megabus made the decision to shut down its Los Angeles hub and discontinue all related services, stating that n this case, the final day for services from Los Angeles was June 22,2008. Megabus re-entered the market in 2012 after reacquiring some of the assets of Coach America, further expansions included service to Syracuse, Rochester, Hartford, and Niagara Falls, Ontario. Later in 2009, the Megabus concept was expanded to Toronto and Montreal, Megabus expanded deeper into Pennsylvania and the Southeast in 2009 and 2010. Megabus returned to the West Coast on December 12,2012 initially serving San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, Sacramento, Reno, Riverside, on its west coast routes, Megabus operates almost exclusively from either commuter rail stations or transfer stations for local transit buses. A fraction of tickets are priced at 1.00 USD or CAD, Megabus follows the yield management model, typically used by airlines, where the lowest fares are offered to those who book early, so the less popular schedules tend to be less expensive. In order to keep costs down, Megabus has no waiting rooms and no bus terminals and picks up at curbside on public streets, stops may be outside railroad stations or transportation centers in major cities, or on college campuses or at shopping centers in other cities. Tickets must be purchased in advance via the website or by telephone, upon purchase, passengers are given a reservation number which they show the bus operator when they board. In the United States, tickets are not available from the bus operator, in Canada, owing to franchise regulations, tickets are sold at stops at a fixed price. The Megabus fleet can be identified by the megabus. com name on the front and sides in yellow against a base. The DATTCO fleet used for Megabus service is also decaled with Megabus logos, buses on the M25 Megabus route operate with regular Academy Bus livery. In 2007, Coach USA updated its Chicago-based Megabus fleet with new MCI J4500 single-deck and this expansion came as Megabus exited from the West Coast market. The fleet transferred to Eastern Shuttle was eventually returned to mainline Coach USA duty following divestiture a few months later, all Megabus coaches branded as such in the United States are equipped with Wi-Fi and electrical outlets. In accordance with ADA regulations, wheelchair-accessible service is available on all lines and this can now be done online or by phone. The Canadian Megabus fleet consists of 152009 TD925 buses and are operated by Trentway-Wagar, all of the Canada fleet is equipped with electrical outlets and Wi-Fi. The Canadian buses are pooled with the US fleet for NYC-Toronto or Philadelphia-Toronto runs, note that on these runs the buses will typically only have WiFi service available in the home country for the bus being used, i. e
NJT Bus: 2, 78, 129, 329, 353
12.2%
Upper Concourse Level