Cranford station

Cranford is a New Jersey Transit railroad station on the Raritan Valley Line, in Cranford, New Jersey. The current Cranford station was built in the mid-1930s by the Central Railroad of New Jersey on an embankment as part of a grade crossing elimination project. Three stations preceded the current building. The station building has a ticket office, waiting area, and offices. The platforms are accessed by stairs and elevators.

Cranford
Cranford station in August 2014.
Location	South Avenue & High Street, Cranford, New Jersey
Coordinates	40.6555°N 74.3028°W / 40.6555; -74.3028
Line(s)	Raritan Valley Line
Platforms	2 island platforms
Tracks	3
Connections	NJ Transit Bus: 59, 113 Olympia Trails: Westfield Commuter Service
Construction
Parking	Yes
Bicycle facilities	Yes
Disabled access	Yes
Other information
Fare zone	7
History
Opened	January 1, 1839[1][2]
Rebuilt	1844, 1865, 1906, August 11, 1929[1]
Previous names	French House (1839–c. 1865)[1]
Traffic
Passengers (2012)	1,264 (average weekday)[3]
Services
Preceding station NJ Transit Following station Garwood toward High Bridge Raritan Valley Line Roselle Park toward New York Penn Station or Hoboken
Former services Preceding station Central Railroad of New Jersey Following station Garwood toward Somerville Somerville – Jersey City Local Roselle–Roselle Park toward Jersey City Aldene toward Jersey City

The New York/Newark-bound train is on the south side, while the train to points west is on the north side.[4] Buses to New York, including rush hour express buses that are non-stop to NYC, stop on the north side of the station as well.[5]

Following the implementation of the Aldene Plan in 1967, the station served as the western terminus of the Cranford–Bayonne Shuttle. The station is the easternmost station on the old main line of the Central Railroad of New Jersey still serving as station. Like several other New Jersey Transit lines a once a week freight train can be seen in the early morning hours at Cranford station (which the plan has been currently scrapped due to NJ Transit train delay issues).

Cranford station has been identified as a stop on the Union go bus expressway, a proposed bus rapid transit line utilizing the a portion of the abandoned Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ) right-of-way between it and Midtown Station, a transit hub combining the NJT station and the former CNJ station in Elizabeth.[6][7][8]

Station layout

The station has two high-level side platforms. Both were built as island platforms, though the northbound outer track has been removed and the southbound outer track is not built for platform access.

P Platform level	Trackbed	← No service
	Side platform
	Track 1	←      Raritan Valley Line toward Raritan or High Bridge (Garwood or Westfield)
	Track 2	←      Raritan Valley Line toward Newark Penn Station (Roselle Park) →
	Side platform
	Track 4	← No service
G	Street level	Station building, parking, buses

References

1. Bernhart, Benjamin L. (2004). Historic Journeys By Rail: Central Railroad of New Jersey Stations, Structures & Marine Equipment. Outer Station Project. p. 59. ISBN 1891402072.
2. "Original Route of New Jersey Central Railroad Followed Old Post Road Between Plainfield, Elizabethport, Historian Says". The Plainfield Courier-News. December 31, 1938. p. 7. Retrieved August 2, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
3. "QUARTERLY RIDERSHIP TRENDS ANALYSIS" (PDF). New Jersey Transit. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 27, 2012. Retrieved December 31, 2012.
4. Location of westbound platform. https://goo.gl/maps/JkyiDBvbTKy; location of eastbound platform. https://goo.gl/maps/r1Lmx5PsZ9C2
5. Location of the bus stop to NYC. https://goo.gl/maps/M24HB1fcZ5y
6. "Union County Go bus expressway" (PDF). NJ Transit Bus Service: The Next Generation. New Jersey Transit. April 26, 2020. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 13, 2013. Retrieved 2012-03-30.
7. "Bollwage supports construction of new midtown train station by NJ Transit", Suburban News, March 16, 2012, retrieved 2012-02-01
8. "Elizabeth Downtown Multi-Modal Integration Study". North Jersey Transportation Planning Organization. 2011. Archived from the original on 2010-11-10. Retrieved 2012-03-30.

External links

Media related to Cranford (NJT station) at Wikimedia Commons

• world.nycsubway.org - NJT Raritan Line
• Photo and brief narrated history of earlier Cranford station by Cranford resident Bernie Wagenblast
• Union Avenue / Walnut Avenue entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Station from Google Maps Street View