NEW JERSEY TRANSIT'S HOBOKEN TERMINAL, south terminus of Metro-North's Port Jervis and Pascack Valley Lines, dates from the same period as Grand Central Terminal and, like similarly, is a landmark beaux-arts structure on the National Register of Historic Places. Its site, directly on the New Jersey shore of the Hudson River, offers sweeping river vistas and a dramatic view of Manhattan. Anxious that it not end like its four predecessors, which were destroyed by fire, builders of the terminal encased its steel frame in concrete, cladding the exterior in ornamental copper.

...The structure encloses several major spaces, primarily the train shed, the waiting room, the rail concourse, and the ferry concourse. A grand marble staircase connects the handsome waiting room with the building's upper floor, which, once the site of a fine restaurant overlooking the Hudson, currently is partially occupied by railroad offices. A 50-foot-high Tiffany stained-glass skylight caps the waiting room proper.

...The train shed, which was a radical departure from the arched sheds popular at the time, consists of low-slung canopies supported by ornamented cast-iron columns. A monumental 470-foot-long space, the ferry concourse once gave access to three ferry lines, which carried passengers and vehicles between the terminal and locations in downtown Manhattan. Ferry service to downtown Manhattan, for passengers only, was reinstituted a few years ago, near Track 13.

...Most commonly used access to Manhattan is the PATH system (Port Authority Trans-Hudson), a heavy-rail (subway) line with direct entrance to the terminal and connecting Hoboken with downtown New York (World Trade Center) and Manhattan stations from the Greenwich Village area to midtown (Penn Station). Also available are connections to several of NJ Transit's commuter lines. In addition to ticket windows, the lost-and-found, and a customer-services office, the terminal houses several businesses offering food, flowers, and cleaning and tailoring and other services.

...A complete overhaul and renovation of the terminal, aimed at restoring its former glories and also making it ADA-compliant, was begun in 1994. Currently, some 30,000 passengers (60,000 passenger trips) use the terminal daily. Conrail (with the NJDOT) assumed operation of the former Erie-Lackawanna commuter services that ran out of Hoboken in 1976. NJ Transit assumed full operation of those trains in 1983. MTA Metro-North railroad has contracts with NJT to operate the lines in New York State.

| GCT | Port Jervis Line | Pascack Valley Line | Home |

Please mail your comments to:

Last updated November 10, 2010