Elizabeth Station (NJ Transit)
History
On April 21, 1893, the Pennsylvania Railroad's elevated structure that grade separated the line through Elizabeth opened for service.
On June 9, 1968 the funeral train of Robert F. Kennedy heading south to Washington, DC passed through the station, where crowds lined the tracks to bid farewell and pay tribute. Prior to its passing, two persons were killed and 5 injured after being struck by a northbound Penn Central train that had originated in Chicago. They were unable to get off the track in time, though the New York-bound train's engineer had slowed to 30 miles per hour (48 km/h) for the normally 55-mile-per-hour (89 km/h) curve, blown his horn continuously, and rung his bell through the curve.
In January 2015 it was announced that a new station house, platforms, and stairways would be built, a project estimated to cost $55 million (2015 USD). The design was made in coordination with Amtrak (which owns the NEC but ended Elizabeth stops about 1973) which plans to add a fifth track. Funding was approved in 2018, and includes the creation of a transit plaza between the two stations. As part of the project, the platforms are being extended to accommodate 12-car trains. Construction began in 2019 and is expected to be completed in 2022.
On September 12, 2023, the eastbound platform and station house fully reopened. All work on Elizabeth station finished by June 2024, resulting in a ribbon cutting ceremony on June 18, 2024.
Station layout
The station has two high-level side platforms; Amtrak's Northeast Corridor trains do not stop.
S-curve improvements
The Elizabeth S-curve limits speeds imposed by the transition between the two curves in the S-curve. There have been many discussions over possible improvements. Amtrak says the current speed limit is 80 miles per hour (130 km/h) for Acela and 70 miles per hour (110 km/h) for Northeast Regionals. However, in practice trains operate more slowly “due to a restrictive ‘approach limited’ signaling that governs the approach to Elizabeth, requiring trains to make a braking application.”. In technical terms, the issue is due to restrictive ‘approach limited’ signaling (causing all trains to slow down to 55 miles per hour (89 km/h) before speeding back up to the speed limit) and the station needs to be converted to 562 signaling and specified through ACSES transponders to allow travel at the stated speed limit.
If rebuilt, with the track provided with aggressive banking and using modern rolling stock, the speed limit could be raised to 135 miles per hour (217 km/h), pushing the northern end of the high speed section in New Jersey closer to Newark. This is included in the improvements Amtrak has planned for the NEC.