Elizabeth Station (Central Railroad Of New Jersey)
Major named trains
The station was on CNJ's main line and was also utilized by B&O and Reading Railway trains which terminated at CNJ's Jersey City terminal, where ferry service to New York was available.
- Baltimore and Ohio (routes west beyond Washington, DC):
- Capitol Limited, Cincinnatian, Columbian, Metropolitan Special, National Limited and others
- Central Railroad of New Jersey & Reading Railway (route to Bethlehem, Allentown, Reading and Harrisburg):
- Harrisburg Special and Queen of the Valley
- Reading Railway (route to West Trenton and Philadelphia):
- Crusader and Wall Street
Status
The CNJ station suffered from a freight train wreck on November 4, 1972, when a boxcar derailed and pulled several other cars into the canopy. Although the buildings and freight cars were damaged, there were no injuries. The station has been listed in the New Jersey Register of Historic Places and National Register of Historic Places since 1984 and is part of the Operating Passenger Railroad Stations Thematic Resource.
There are plans to redesign the public space and create a transit plaza between the CNJ and NJT stations. Funding was approved in 2018.
The proposed Union County Light Rail, which would have connected midtown Elizabeth with Newark Airport, would have had its western terminus at this station. The station for this line would have been referred to as Midtown to distinguish from the other stations in Elizabeth on this line. The plan has been replaced by the Union go bus expressway, a proposed bus rapid transit system between Garwood and the airport.