Railroads The
Erie Railroad's
Main Line ran from
Jersey City to
Chicago via
Binghamton,
Youngstown and
Akron; with a line to
Buffalo, and a spur to
Cleveland. The name and a portion of the route exists in the form of the
New Jersey Transit Main Line to
Suffern, New York and, under contract for Metro North, all the way to
Port Jervis. Parts of the contemporary
Bergen County Line and
Pascack Valley Line were also Erie operated, while sections of its
Greenwood Lake Branch have been incorporated into the
Montclair-Boonton Line. The
Northern Branch of the Northern Railroad of New Jersey is another line from the Erie era along which freight is transported and that may be revived as light rail service. The last train to leave the station, the #1205 at 6:35 p.m. on Friday, December 12, 1958, was along the Northern Branch. The
Newark Branch (with continuing service to
Paterson) and the Orange Branch were also parts of its suburban network. The
New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway main line ran to
Wilkes-Barre, along a route that had been established some decades earlier as Budd's Ferry. It was taken over by the Erie and sold to the Pavonia Ferry Company of Jersey City for what was considered a low price of $9,050, at
New York City Hall, in February 1854. In February 1859 Nathaniel Marsh of the
Erie Railroad Company purchased the lease on behalf of the Pavonia Ferry Company. He started a ferry which ran from
Chambers Street (Manhattan) to the foot Pavonia Avenue on the other side of the
Hudson River. Legal problems had prevented the Pavonia Ferry Company from establishing a ferry along this route. The
New York and Erie Railroad paid an annual rent of $9,050 to transport passengers back and forth. Eventually the railroad constructed its Pavonia Terminal on the land-filled
Harsimus Cove. Suburban and long distance travelers would transfer from trains to boats for the passage across the river. Its final two routes from the terminal across the Hudson to
Lower Manhattan were to
Chambers Street Ferry Terminal and
23rd Street.
New York Waterway re-introduced service to
Pier 79 at West 39th Street on December 1, 2006. Service officially ended January 2014. Ferry service is being restored in the Summer of 2019.
Streetcar Numerous streetcar lines served the station. Eventually they (and indeed all of
Hudson County lines) were operated by the
Public Service Railway.
The Grove Street, which operated between
Exchange Place and
Hudson Place (Hoboken), passed nearby.
The Pavonia and the Crosstown originated at the station. The
Hudson Bergen Light Rail Pavonia/Newport Station opened in 2002, and is located one and half blocks west of the
PATH system.
H & M tube station Originally named "Erie", the PATH's
Newport station, originally built by the
Hudson and Manhattan Railroad (H&M), still bears the letter "E" engraved on its pillars. Opened on August 2, 1909, the station was built with only the island platform. The side platform was added around 1914 to handle the heavier passenger volume. It was closed in 1954 in order for the bankrupt railroad to reduce costs. The side platform remained dormant for nearly 50 years. The northernmost stairway exit from the two platforms led to a steep passageway, which originally went directly to the Erie Railroad terminal. In the 1920s, a second passageway and mezzanine area was built over the existing platforms and northbound trackway. This second passageway and mezzanine area were also closed in 1954 (as was also the entrance to/from Henderson Street), but was reopened in the late 1980s/early 1990s after the station was renovated. Also in 1954, the first
moving sidewalk, or travellator, in the United States was installed. Named the "Speedwalk" and built by
Goodyear, it was long and moved up a 10-percent grade at a speed of . The walkway was removed a few years later when traffic patterns at the station changed. ==Site==