The
Camden and Amboy Railroad was incorporated on February 4, 1830. Its main line was completed between
Bordentown, New Jersey, and
Hightstown, New Jersey, in October 1832. It was extended north from Bordentown to
South Amboy, New Jersey, on
Raritan Bay, that December. The southern extension from Bordentown to
Camden, New Jersey, opened in September 1834. Passengers embarked on ships at Bordentown or Camden to reach
Philadelphia. The
Bordentown Branch opened in January 1838, creating a connection with the
Philadelphia and Trenton Railroad at
Trenton, New Jersey. The Camden and Amboy was consolidated with the
New Jersey Rail Road and Transportation Company and
Delaware and Raritan Canal Company in 1872 to form the
United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company. The
Pennsylvania Railroad leased this new company from the outset. Although the Camden and Amboy lines became part of the Pennsylvania system, formal ownership remained with the United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company through the
Penn Central merger and bankruptcy. The importance of the Amboy Branch as a through route for passengers lessened after the parallel line between Trenton and
Newark, New Jersey (now
Amtrak's
Northeast Corridor) was electrified. The Pennsylvania Railroad discontinued service between Bordentown and
Jamesburg, New Jersey, in October 1938. Service north of Jamesburg ended on October 23, 1959. Finally, trains between Camden and Trenton via the Bordentown Branch ended on June 28, 1963.
Camden For over a century the line's southern terminus in Camden fronted on the
Delaware River, with ferry service to Philadelphia. The completion of the
Benjamin Franklin Bridge in 1928 began the decline of ferry service on the river, and the Pennsylvania Railroad ceased that service on March 31, 1952.
Broadway station, approximately to the east, served as the terminus for Pennsylvania and
Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines services until 1966. Broadway was also the eastern terminus of the rapid transit Bridge Line, forerunner of the modern
PATCO Speedline. Broadway closed in October 1966 as part of an urban redevelopment plan in Camden that included the demolition of the Pennsylvania's elevated route through the city. The Pennsylvania's remaining local services in Camden moved to a new station at
12th Street. The station closed on February 5, 1971, with the discontinuation of the Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines trains to
Millville, New Jersey.
Conrail Prior to the
Penn Central's bankruptcy and the creation of
Conrail, the Pennsylvania Railroad abandoned the line between Hightstown and
Windsor, New Jersey, splitting the branch. In the latter days of the Penn Central the former Amboy branch was known by several names: Bordentown Branch (Camden–Delair and Trenton–Bordentown), Bordentown Secondary (Delair–Bordentown), Robbinsville Secondary (Bordentown–Windsor), Amboy Secondary (South Amboy–Jamesburg), and Hightstown Secondary (Jamesburg–Hightstown). The entirety was conveyed to Conrail in 1976. Under Conrail, the line between Bordentown and Camden was combined with the Bordentown Branch to form the Bordentown Secondary. Conrail sold the entirety of the Bordentown Secondary to
NJ Transit in 1999 for $67.5 million for a planned conversion to
light rail operation. Conrail retained trackage rights over the line. The
River Line began operation on March 14, 2004, almost 41 years after the end of Pennsylvania Railroad service. The section between South Amboy and Jamesburg forms part of the Amboy Secondary, which also includes part of the
Jamesburg Branch. Conrail continues to own the line between Bordentown and Windsor, which it calls the
Robbinsville Industrial Track. and portions run parallel to
U.S. Route 130. Considering the historic value of a rail line originally completed in 1832, By 2009, legal abandonment had not happened, but portions of the track had become overgrown or had been pulled up at crossings. The section between Jamesburg and Hightstown is called the
Hightstown Industrial Track. When Conrail began operations it considered abandoning this line, but in 1977 announced that it would keep it going. However, while the original Highstown Secondary ran for , by the late 1980s, Conrail had terminated the line at
Cranbury, short of Hightstown, making it in length. The New Jersey Department of Transportation undertook work to improve the at-grade crossings for the line in
Monroe Township in 2006, and again in 2010. == Notes ==