Bound Brook station

Bound Brook is a New Jersey Transit railroad station on the Raritan Valley Line, in Bound Brook, New Jersey. The station building on the north side of the tracks is now a restaurant; the other station building on the south side is a waiting room. A pedestrian tunnel connects the south and north sides of the tracks.

Bound Brook
Bound Brook station in April 2015, looking east along the south platform
General information
Location	East Main Street (CRs 527 and 533), Bound Brook, New Jersey
Owned by	New Jersey Transit
Line(s)	Raritan Valley Line
Distance	30.2 miles (48.6 km) from Jersey City[1]
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	2
Connections	Somerset County Transportation: DASH
Construction
Structure type	Canopy
Parking	Yes
Bicycle facilities	Racks
Accessible	No
Other information
Fare zone	14
History
Opened	January 1, 1840[2]
Rebuilt	1859–1860 1872[3] July 1912–August 10, 1913[4][5]
Previous names	Yellow Tavern (1840–1842)[3]
Passengers
2012	622 (average weekday)[6]
Services
Preceding station NJ Transit Following station Bridgewater toward High Bridge Raritan Valley Line Dunellen toward New York Penn Station or Hoboken
Former services Preceding station Conrail Following station Belle Mead toward Reading Terminal Crusader and Wall Street 1976–1981 Newark Terminus Belle Mead toward West Trenton West Trenton Line 1981–1982 (NJ Transit) Preceding station Central Railroad of New Jersey Following station Somerville toward Scranton Main Line Dunellen toward Jersey City Manville–Finderne toward Somerville Somerville – Jersey City Local Middlesex toward Jersey City Preceding station Reading Railroad Following station Belle Mead toward Philadelphia New York Branch Terminus Preceding station Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Following station West Trenton toward Philadelphia: Chestnut St. or Reading Terminal Philadelphia – Jersey City Local Plainfield toward Jersey City Wayne Junction toward Chicago Main Line Until 1926 Manhattan Transfer toward New York
Bound Brook Station
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
New Jersey Register of Historic Places
Location	E. Main Street, Bound Brook, New Jersey
Coordinates	40°33′39″N 74°31′51″W
Area	1.5 acres (0.61 ha)
Built	1913 (1913)
Architect	William I. Houghton
Architectural style	Classical Revival
MPS	Operating Passenger Railroad Stations TR
NRHP reference No.	84002787[7]
NJRHP No.	2481[8]
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	June 22, 1984
Designated NJRHP	March 17, 1984

The Norfolk Southern Railway's Lehigh Line, the railroad's main freight line into the New York City area – built and formerly owned by the Lehigh Valley Railroad until merged into Conrail – is a few yards south of the south platform and is used by around 25 freight trains a day. The Lehigh Valley Railroad used a separate station to the south.

History

The station at 350 East Main Street was opened on August 10, 1913 as a replacement station.^[4][5] This was a part of the Central Railroad of New Jersey Elevation Project from Elizabeth to Somerville (grade crossing removal). The station on the north side of the tracks replaced the original station (circa 1847-1848) that was located on the south side of the tracks as built by the Elizabethtown and Somerville Railroad.^[9]

Bound Brook station was listed on the New Jersey Register of Historic Places and the National Register of Historic Places in 1984 as part of the Operating Passenger Railroad Stations Thematic Resource.^[10]

Station layout

The station has two low-level side platforms serving two tracks. Both are 400 feet (120 m) long and can accommodate four cars.^[11]

Bibliography

• Bianculli, Anthony J. (2001). Trains and Technology: Track and Structures. University of Delaware Press. ISBN 9780874138023.

References

1. NJ Transit (2005). NJ Transit Rail Operations: Physical Characteristics. pp. 117–119, 142b, 173–182.
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 March 27, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
3. Bernhart, Benjamin L. (2004). Historic Journeys By Rail: Central Railroad of New Jersey Stations, Structures & Marine Equipment. Outer Station Project. p. 64. ISBN 1891402072.
4. "R. R. Improvements at Bound Brook and Somerville". The Daily Home News. New Brunswick, New Jersey. July 27, 1912. p. 8. Retrieved July 28, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
5. "Bound Brook's New Station in Use". The Plainfield Courier-News. August 11, 1913. p. 16. Retrieved July 28, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
6. "QUARTERLY RIDERSHIP TRENDS ANALYSIS" (PDF). New Jersey Transit. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 19, 2013. Retrieved December 31, 2012.
7. "National Register Information System – (#84002787)". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. November 2, 2013.
8. "New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places – Somerset County" (PDF). New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection – Historic Preservation Office. December 28, 2020. p. 3.
9. Central Railroad of New Jersey
10. Meyer, Richard (May 1981). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Bound Brook Station". National Park Service. With accompanying photo
11. "RARITAN VALLEY LINE ONE-SEAT RIDE SERVICE TO MANHATTAN" (PDF). July 2020. pp. 75, 81. Retrieved June 8, 2023.

External links

• Media related to Bound Brook (NJT station) at Wikimedia Commons

• world.nycsubway.org - NJT Raritan Line
• Station from Google Maps Street View