Proposal and opening (1962–1965) Hebert Thomas, the chief of rail transit for the
New Jersey State Highway Department announced a $400 million proposal in March 1962 that would involve the construction of multiple
park and ride facilities along the
Pennsylvania Railroad main line. One of these would include a new station west of downtown
New Brunswick to replace the
station downtown. In May 1962, the Tri-State Transportation Committee, a conglomerate of officials from
New Jersey,
New York and
Connecticut formed to improve mass transit in the area around
New York City, proposed a new park and ride in the area of Van Dyke Avenue and Jersey Avenue (
NJ 91) in New Brunswick at the
local railroad yard. This new station would be located where the
former Millstone Branch diverted from the main line. It would only serve local trains and no through main line trains would stop at it. Through services would continue to use the downtown station in New Brunswick. In its decision making, the Committee noted that the city of New Brunswick had become a victim of new commuter bus services taken away from its railroad ridership harder than other areas along the Pennsylvania Railroad. By building a new station to attract new ridership, they hoped to reverse the trend and prove that rail service would still be viable. The new station would be paid by the
Federal Housing Act of 1961 and the rest by at least one of the state of New Jersey, the city of New Brunswick or the Pennsylvania Railroad. New Jersey had already shown support with their announcement in March and the railroad was willing to update schedules for a new service. In June 1962, Thomas announced that the new $183,250 station would have free parking for 300 cars. The fare to go to the new station would be the same as the fare to go to downtown New Brunswick and the hope was the new station would eliminate commuter congestion in the city. Karl Metzger, the Director of the
Middlesex County Board of Freeholders, added that some might park at the new station and take a train to the downtown station for shopping and that there should be a 5¢ train for those who wanted to do the shopping and back trip. Thomas and Roger Gilman, the director of the Tri-State Transportation Committee, tried to quell fears that this station would eliminate the downtown stop and hurt the city further, reiterating that through trains would all stop at the downtown stop and that all new local trains beginning at the new station would stop at the downtown station anyway. In December 1962,
United States Senator Harrison A. Williams (
D–NJ) announced that a federal grant of $170,790 would be provided for the construction of a new station at Jersey Avenue. This new station would be an experimental stop and that it would operate for at least one calendar year. If successful, the new station would become a permanent part of the schedule and that it would be a good testament to reviving rail ridership if new modern facilities were provided. The rest of the project would be funded by the State Highway Department's Division of Railroad Transportation and the Tri-State Transportation Committee. Ground was broken for the new project on July 16, 1963 with
Governor of New Jersey Richard J. Hughes and Harrison Williams at the ceremonies. The new station, at a total cost of $256,185, would be ready to open in October. Hughes also spoke at the groundbreaking about the $750 million state bond issue that would be a boost to transportation and education in New Jersey. Construction of the new station and its parking lot came from Rule Construction of New Brunswick for $81,499. By January 1964, the Jersey Avenue station had been considered a success, with a 7 percent increase in rail ridership on Pennsylvania Railroad trains after opening. 157 people on average used Jersey Avenue station for eastbound trains in November 1962 and 162 in December 1962. Westbound train service was 141 and 146. The car rate increased to 100. Downtown ridership at the downtown New Brunswick station did not shift much in the same time period, losing only four riders on average from 2,117 to 2,113. The Pennsylvania Railroad and state of New Jersey added service from Jersey Avenue to Penn Station on April 26, 1964. This upgrade included five new trains, three heading for New York and two more heading for Jersey Avenue. They also announced that time between the two locations would also be improved. By November 1964, an average of 211 cars used the Jersey Avenue parking lot and local demand was to ensure that the station would continue to be open after the end of the 18-month experimental period. Dwight Palmer, the State Highway Commissioner announced in late April 1965 that the Jersey Avenue station would continue to be open after the ending of the 18-month experiment. As part of the decision, state officials asked that the city take over operations of the park and ride on a financial basis, to which New Brunswick officials declined. As a result, the parking lot would become a pay parking facility rather than a free one with a 50¢ charge for parking. However, they noted that discussions were still underway for continuing the park and ride. However, the station would remain free instead.
Improvements (1971–1986) The new
Penn Central Railroad announced on April 20, 1971 that they would be increasing fares by 25 percent on January 1, 1971. As part of the agreement to raise fares, officials announced that they would expand the station at Jersey Avenue. This expansion would bring the lot capacity from 380 to 440. As of the point of the announcement, an average of 640 people was using Jersey Avenue station to commute on the 23 trains, resulting in the parking lot overflowing to Jersey Avenue on the side of the entrance road. A new train would be added eastbound, leaving Jersey Avenue at 8:20 a.m. and getting to New York Pennsylvania Station at 9:15 a.m. The last part of the announcement is the construction on the westbound side of the main line of a new platform, facilitating service towards
Trenton. A late evening train that used to terminate at Jersey Avenue would move to Trenton and upon completion of the new platform, would service Jersey Avenue once again. This new train would begin operation on May 24, 1971. In November 1971, Penn Central announced that the new platform at Jersey Avenue would open beginning on November 14 with the introduction of its autumn schedules. With the new platform in place, 41 new trains would service Jersey Avenue station on a weekly basis. This included six additional trains on weekdays, seven on Saturdays and three on Sundays and various holidays, adding to the 24 that terminate at Jersey Avenue. J&L Parking, the subcontractor that operated the parking lot for Penn Central announced in October 1974 that the station would no longer be a free parking lot. Due to the
1973 oil crisis, Penn Central stated that they needed a new company to run the lot and that they would need a parking fee for raising funds. As part of the agreement, the lot would get an extra ten spaces, expanding official capacity to 450. However, they would also ban people from parking along the tracks where the overload of cars had been parking. The new 50¢ parking lot fee would be collected by a person during the morning rush hour load and a coin machine would handle the rest of the facility's parking fares. Opposition to the new parking fee was almost immediate.
South Brunswick Township passed a resolution on November 19, 1974 that opposed the fee. With protests after the announcement, the level of angst reached the state government in Trenton. Arthur Penn, the Director of Public Interest at the newly-formed Department of Public Advocate, wrote to the State Transportation Commissioner Alan Sanger that the railroad's decision to implement a parking fare structure at Jersey Avenue station was a possible illegal act on constitutional grounds and a poor look ethically. Penn argued that the state allowing the railroad to do it was a possible violation of law preventing the use of state fund donations for private companies. He considered it a fare increase and that public hearings should have been held before the fare was implemented. Because of the parking fee, the city of New Brunswick removed the railroad's tax exemption in February 1975. The lot would command over $2,700 in taxes and $18,800 on other properties the railroad owned within the city with an assessment of $60,000. Because of the parking fare, the state made it unenforceable by creating a law that prevented the parking fee on lands built with public funds. With the introduction of
Conrail in 1976, ownership of the station switched to
Amtrak, which took over the tracks on the main line and the stations along the alignment. J&L, continuing the Penn Central lease under Amtrak, announced that the 50¢ fare would be upgraded to 60¢ in February 1980 due to company expanses in having security on the property due to local vandalism. Local Conrail staff and commuters noted that the attendant would collect the morning fares and leave, leaving the station unstaffed for the rest of the day. Amtrak stated that they should have an attendant at the station all day. At the same time, Amtrak announced it was moving the ownership of the station from itself to
NJ Transit, the new state agency for operating railroads and busses in New Jersey. NJ Transit officials added that they would like to offer the operation of the parking lot and Jersey Avenue station platforms to the city. Lynch added that they were waiting on a $6 million grant from the
Urban Mass Transportation Administration to renovate the downtown station. However, they would not take over Jersey Avenue without the grant. In early March 1980, the
New Jersey Department of Transportation told Lynch that they would offer a grant from a state transportation bond for improvements to both stations. $350,000 would be provided for expanding the parking lot at Jersey Avenue station. In December 1982, Middlesex County Freeholder David Crabiel stated that NJ Transit was looking at cutting facilities at Jersey Avenue station as part of financial stability concerns. This included closing the station depot at Jersey Avenue station, removing access to the waiting room, the ticket agent and restroom facilities for commuters. City Administrator Stanley Marcinczyk pushed the city to take over the downtown and Jersey Avenue stations. As part of the use of funding from the grant, the new station parking lot would gain 50 new parking spaces. It also would extend the platform from to and adding a canopy on it for . In February 1983, Marcinczyk announced that NJ Transit finished acquisition of the downtown and Jersey Avenue stations in New Brunswick from Amtrak. Marcinczyk added that they came to an agreement with NJ Transit to lease the stations to operate the facilities. NJ Transit would maintain two leases, one for each station through 1988 with an option for an extension to 1993. 25¢ of every dollar spent would go to operate the Jersey Avenue station, including an expansion of the station parking lot from 440 to 700 spaces. The rest of the money would go to downtown station. Any revenues beyond that would be split between the city and NJ Transit. Marcinczyk added that the Jersey Avenue station would generate the majority of the revenue for the city and that it would also get new improved lighting in addition to the proposed improvements in December 1982. He added that Jersey Avenue would receive its upgrades first. New Brunswick City Council agreed to create an ordinance on July 5 to take over both stations in New Brunswick. In January 1984, NJ Transit officialized the lease of both stations and guaranteed $3 million for improvement of both stations. With construction beginning in Spring 1984, Jersey Avenue station would get a new station building and its expanded parking. In December 1984, Marcinczyk added that Triangle Fidelco, a local company on Jersey Avenue, would offer up some unused land for more parking for commuters. As part of a new lease agreement of $650 per month, the lot would add 140 new parking spaces. NJ Transit would approve it and that the agency and the Department of Transportation would install the lot and put lighting in. The new lot opened on January 28, 1985, adding 100 spaces for commuters on a monthly permit basis. This lot would serve as a temporary lot until the new upgraded station at Jersey Avenue station was finished. The new station opened in April 1986. ==Station layout and services==