Station Review #87: New Brunswick (Amtrak/NJT)


New Brunswick is a station served by Amtrak and NJT trains. The station is located at Easton Avenue and Albany Street in the core of Downtown New Brunswick. New Brunswick is the least used Amtrak station in New Jersey. 

History

New Brunswick was always an intermodal station

New Brunswick first gained rail service in 1838 from the New Jersey Rail Road, as the terminus station for their line between Jersey City and New Brunswick. In 1839, the Camden and Amboy Railroad completed a branch line between Trenton and New Brunswick, and these two lines met up at New Brunswick station. Now, people could take the train between Philadelphia and Jersey City, and a ferry from there to New York City itself. This arrangement mostly stayed the same for much of the rest of the 19th century, even after both the NJRR and Camden and Amboy merged into the United New Jersey Rail Road and Canal Company, which then got leased by the Pennsylvania Railroad. 

In 1903, the old New Brunswick station was demolished, and a new station was built in its place, that station being the station that is there today. New Brunswick saw a considerable decline in local service, with trains to Freehold and Manasquan/Sea Girt being discontinued, local service was now only being provided along the Northeast Corridor. With the events that happened in the US' railroad history between the 1960s and 1980s, Amtrak ended up essentially inheriting PRR service to New Brunswick station and kept it. In 2005, the New Brunswick Transit Village was created, with the train station at its core. In more recent years, Amtrak has added more service to New Brunswick and Princeton Junction stations following increased demand. 

Services

Three train services run to New Brunswick station, these are: 

Keystone Service: This is an Amtrak service between New York City and Harrisburg, PA via Philadelphia. Usually only about one round trip per day stops here. 

Northeast Regional: This is an Amtrak service that mainly runs between Boston South station and Washington DC Union station, but has branches that also run to Norfolk, VA, Newport News, VA, Roanoke, VA, and Springfield, MA. Of these, only the branches to Norfolk and Newport News actually have any service that stops at New Brunswick station, and the service for these is very patchy. 

Northeast Corridor: The majority of service that goes to New Brunswick station is local. Provided by New Jersey Transit, the Northeast Corridor train runs from New York Penn station to Trenton Transit Center making local stops. 

Tour

The station itself from the outside

New Brunswick is a historical station that has essentially remained mostly untouched in the years it has existed. 

Bike racks

The station building, closer up

Lower level of station

Inside the station building 

The platforms

TVM

Elevator

Staircase

The platforms, but from a more interesting angle

Tunnel under the station between the platforms

Bridge between one of the platforms, the Gateway parking garage, and Somerset street. 

The layout of this station is nice and fairly simple to understand, the only issue is that much of the station's amenities and passages are focused in the main building of the station, which completely closes late at night. Because of this, passengers going from the south late at night tend to have a lot of issues actually accessing and using the station. 

Bus Connections

New Brunswick has so many bus connections. Many of these are provided by Rutgers University, since they use the station as a bus hub. Almost all of these are loops. NJT also provides service, as well as other smaller companies. 

Rutgers Campus Buses: 

A: College Avenue to Busch Campus
EE: College Avenue to Cook/Douglass Recreation Center
F: College Avenue to Lipman Hall
H: College Avenue to Busch Campus
LX: College Avenue to Livingston

NJT: 

810: New Brunswick to Woodbridge Center
811: St. Peter's Hospital to South River
814: Chaimberlain University - North Brunswick to Middlesex College
815: New Brunswick to Woodbridge Center via South Amboy
818: New Brunswick to Old Bridge - Stratford Apartments

Suburban Transit (CoachUSA Commuter Buses):

100: Princeton to Port Authority Bus Terminal
500: New Brunswick Park and Ride to UN Headquarters via East Brunswick Transportation Center
600: New Brunswick Park and Ride to Wall Street via East Brunswick Transportation Center

Middlesex County RIDE: 

M1: New Brunswick to Jamesburg
RIDE On Demand: Microtransit that runs in all of New Brunswick and part of North Brunswick. 

Somerset County Transportation: 

CAT 1R: New Brunswick to Raritan Valley Community College via Bound Brook
DASH 851/852: Davidson Avenue Shuttle, New Brunswick to Bound Brook


Points of Interest Near New Brunswick Station

New Brunswick is essentially a very large university town. Rutgers University has their main campus here. Also nearby is the Robert Wood Jones and St. Peter's University Hospitals. Also nearby is downtown New Brunswick, which has a lot of stores, restaurants, museums, and everything else one would expect from a mid-sized city like New Brunswick.

Statistics


Name: New Brunswick
Agency: Amtrak, NJT
Line(s): Keystone Service, Northeast Corridor, Northeast Regional
Locality: City Center/Downtown
Municipality: New Brunswick 
County: Middlesex
State: New Jersey 
Ridership: Amtrak: 21937 total (2022), NJT: 2539 per weekday (2022). 

Amenity Checklist


Accessible: ✓
Bathrooms: ✓
Bicycle parking: ✓
Clean Station: ✓
Connections to other transit routes: ✓
Convenience Store/similar place inside: ✓
Easy passage for each side: ✓ 
Fare Payment Kiosks (if applicable): N/A
Good Wayfinding: ✓*
Indoor Shelters: ✓ 
Maps: ✓
Multiple entrances/exits: ✓
Adequate Parking: ✓
Seating: ✓ 
Shelters: ✓
Station In Good Condition: ✓
TVMs: ✓
Ticket Offices: ✓
TOD: ✓
Train Departure/Arrival Info (signs that update/screens): ✓
Updated/Useful Signage: ✓

Final Verdict: 9/10. So close yet so far. 

Station Directory




--------MASSACHUSETTS--------
--------Suffolk County--------
Boston South Station (BOS)
Back Bay (BBY)
--------Norfolk County--------
Route 128 (RTE)
--------RHODE ISLAND--------
--------Providence County--------
Providence (PVD)
--------Washington County--------
Kingston (KIN)
Westerly (WLY)
-------CONNECTICUT--------
--------Southeastern Connecticut County--------
New London (NLC)
--------Lower Connecticut River Valley County--------
Old Saybrook (OSB)
--------South Central Connecticut County--------
New Haven Union (NHV)
--------Greater Bridgeport County--------
Bridgeport (BRP)
--------Western Connecticut County--------
Stamford (STM)
--------NEW YORK--------
--------Westchester County--------
New Rochelle (NRO)
--------Manhattan Borough--------
New York Penn (NYP)
--------New Jersey--------
--------Essex County--------
Newark Penn (NWK)
Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR)
--------Union County--------
North Elizabeth
Elizabeth
Linden
Rahway
--------Middlesex County--------
Metropark (MET)
Metuchen
Edison 
New Brunswick (NBK)
Jersey Avenue
--------Mercer County--------
Princeton Junction (PJC)
Hamilton
Trenton Transit Center (TRE)
--------PENNSYLVANIA--------
--------Bucks County--------
Cornwell's Heights (CWH)
--------Philadelphia County--------
North Philadelphia (PHN)
30th Street (PHL)

KEYSTONE TRAINS CONTINUE TO HARRISBURG

--------DELAWARE--------
--------New Castle County--------
Wilmington (WIL)
Newark (NRK)
--------MARYLAND--------
--------Harford County--------
Aberdeen (ABE)
--------Baltimore City--------
Baltimore Penn (BAL)
--------Anne Arundel County--------
BWI/Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI)
--------Prince George’s County--------
New Carrolton (NCR)
--------DC--------
Washington DC Union Station (WAS)

Keystone Corridor west of 30th Street:

--------Pennsylvania--------
--------Dauphin County--------
Harrisburg (HAR)
Middletown (MID)
--------Lancaster County--------
Elizabethtown (ELT)
Mount Joy (MJY)
Lancaster (LNC)
--------Chester County--------
Parkesburg (PAR)
Coatesville (COT)
Exton (EXT)
Paoli (PAO)
--------Montgomery County-------- 

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