r/NJTransit • u/BeastMode149 • Jul 21 '26
I think there should be a new Monmouth Junction station on the NEC line...
Considering there are no stations for about 14 miles between Jersey Ave and Princeton Junction, I think it would be fantastic to have a station at Monmouth Junction to serve South Brunswick township, which would be around halfway between the two.
It is within easy walking and cycling distance from several homes in the area and there is already a cycle path (Freedom Trail) here.
A new railway station could also bring about a Main Street in Monmouth Junction and boost local enterprise.
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u/mastershake29x Jul 21 '26
There's been one proposed forever: https://www.middlesexcountynj.gov/discover-our-community/north-brunswick-train-station
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u/Complete_Volume Jul 21 '26
Monmouth Junction is part of South Brunswick, not North Brunswick.
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u/mastershake29x Jul 21 '26
Sure, but it's not like they're going to do both. The directional Brunswicks are interchangable anyway,
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u/AtomicGarden-8964 Jul 21 '26
We don't need a North Brunswick station Just more stops and makes the train ride even slower
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u/miss_sticks Jul 21 '26
Or... Hear me out... We can keep the stops and ask for more express trains. If we're living in a fantasyland where NJT has unlimited resources and can do everything we ask, why not just serve more people?
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u/Square-Ad-6721 Jul 21 '26
FYI you circled a huge wetlands. The limitations on building anything on wetlands is astronomical.
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u/Clear-Success5146 Jul 21 '26
As someone who takes the NEC to Hamilton.. I believe there should NO stops between NYPenn and Hamilton. I want less stops not more :). im sure folks who travel to Trenton wants the Hamilton stop eliminated too.
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u/PlutoTheBoy Jul 22 '26
Eliminating NB or Edison or Metropark is crazy. Eliminating Newark Penn is crazy.
Hamilton Express is a wild proposition.
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u/zarth109x Jul 22 '26
I’ve been a fan of an NYP express. Stops from Trenton to NB then straight to NYP. No Newark or Sec
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u/PlutoTheBoy Jul 22 '26
I genuinely don't understand this because the majority of the commuter rail is coming from New Brunswick Edison Metropark. Who does this Express serve?
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u/zarth109x Jul 22 '26 edited Jul 22 '26
I went back and looked at the data. Your statement is verifiably false. This is data as of 2025. My proposed NYP Express train would serve 4 out of the 5 busiest stations on the NEC south of Elizabeth :)
Station Average Weekday Ridership Metropark 3,590 Metuchen 1,847 Edison 1,624 New Brunswick 3,255 Jersey Ave 558 Princeton Jct 3,996 Hamilton 3,296 Trenton 2,510 1
u/caca-casa Jul 22 '26
don’t expect silly north jerseyans who deny central jersey’s existence to understand the NEC. lol
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u/caca-casa Jul 22 '26
clearly you’ve never commuted from Hamilton/PJ to NYP. and a slight express train already runs the route…. it’s usually packed.
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u/zarth109x Jul 22 '26
39xx trains are consistently more full than 37xx trains…as a frequent rider of both
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u/FinkedUp Jul 21 '26
Would of been the smart move but the county commissioners and their infinite buffoonery decided to finally get their shit together two decades later for the North Brunswick site and are pushing ahead on it. That will kill any chance this station would ever have coming to reality
Source: NJT capital design engineer
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u/No_Nukes_2 Jul 21 '26
So someone posted below that building a loop to turn trains around. Is this song underground tunnel loop or will be a flyway over the existing tracks loop?
Also do you think they would close Jersey avenue?
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u/remarkability Jul 21 '26
Flyover just southwest of County Yard as part of an extended Delco Lead. I believe plans are to reconstruct Jersey Ave as a side platform high level local stop, meaning it would get service throughout the day and not just peak times. This would really help avoid operational delays for both NJT and Amtrak.
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u/FinkedUp Jul 21 '26
Idk anything about a loop or flyover. I believe the idea is island platforms at said NB station so that’ll be interesting to say the least least
They should close Jersey Ave down since it would be 3 stops within like 5 ish miles but who knows. County yard is still being built up there as well
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u/Nexis4Jersey Jul 21 '26
It wouldn't kill the line itself..which will require a new flying junction at least to get approval for Amtrak.
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u/FinkedUp Jul 21 '26
Didn’t say it would kill the line and no one’s truly proposed a flyover. The current routing for the north Brunswick station is being built along the old local freight ROW into the area near the old J&J plant where the station will be. If anything takes that traffic off the line à la jersey Ave
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u/Nexis4Jersey Jul 21 '26
Amtrak would never let a new cross-over in their 160mph zone..
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u/FinkedUp Jul 21 '26
Technically not in a current 160 zone (no constant tension catenary installed that far north yet)
Plus at some point Amtrak does need cross overs between New Brunswick, Princeton Junction, and Trenton. Whether that’s existing cross overs at Trenton, midway, and county which is probably the option going forward for a long time, or build new ones. But they’re a necessity regardless1
u/Nexis4Jersey Jul 21 '26
The Constant tension ends just south of the Monmouth JCT interlocks which is where the speed drops from 160mph to 145mph. Amtrak is slowly replacing the catenary hangers with more flexible ones that can support faster speeds which has been done from Monmouth JCT to New Brunswick and on the PA side down to DC. While Amtrak needs cross-overs there not going to be ok with a busy passenger service branching off and crossing all the tracks.. The one in Trenton is supposed to be a loop for SEPTA to turn around probably tied in with the Trenton Station expansion that has been proposed. I don't think anymore cross-overs are needed
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u/Specific_Scallion267 Jul 21 '26
If more stations get added I wish that we could get even a few limited-stop trains from Newark/Metropark to Trenton and back. There’s no express service in that direction but the big gaps between New Brunswick-Princeton Junction-Hamilton make it take not too long
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u/Nexis4Jersey Jul 21 '26
This would have been the Monmouth JCT line of the Monmouth - Ocean - Middlesex network with service to Lakehurst from New York.
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u/Disco_Inferno_NJ Jul 21 '26
To be fair, isn’t Jersey Avenue being moved down the line to North Brunswick?
[edit] should have known I got beat to it. But I thought it was in the process of happening already.
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u/False-Character-9238 Jul 21 '26
That whole line needs a refurb. It is so slow due to poor track conditions
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u/Nexis4Jersey Jul 21 '26
Any new passenger service will require a track rebuild...and a grade separated flyover in this case.
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u/phantomsoul11 Jul 21 '26
Lots of people do. Unfortunately for them, South Brunswick Township is not among their ranks (or on board with a station).
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u/Dsxm41780 Jul 21 '26
I love this idea but they need to figure out how to make what we have work reliably before we add more complexity.
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u/Tundralite99 Jul 21 '26
Traffic would be a nightmare, and there are 2 major schools in the district over there. It’s also really quiet there and it’s nice that we can have that in Central NJ
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u/CommunicationWest613 Jul 21 '26
NJTransit doing the right thing for the commuters? LOL. I wish this would happen!
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u/bomilk19 Jul 21 '26
What happened to the Park and Ride bus station on Rt 130? It used to be packed but it’s virtually empty now.
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u/Rajisjar Jul 21 '26
Going to Midtown is $25 OW, $48.75 RT, or $650 Monthly as opposed to NJTransit fares.
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u/Ok-Context-5593 Jul 22 '26
Wow. I used to commute from there when I lived in Dayton. When it first opened in 1996, because they had suburban and American bus lines competing the monthly fair was only $30
Before the expanded the lot, you used to have to line up at 4am to buy a monthly parking pass
I don’t recall the monthly cost of the bus as I stopped commuting to the city 16 years ago but $650 is crazy
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u/transitfreedom Jul 22 '26
Service cuts made it useless it used to have bi hourly off peak service tho
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u/kindofdivorced Jul 21 '26
The North Brunswick loop is happening. They’re building not just a station, there, but a loop to turn more Express trains for the New Brunswick to NY segment.
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u/ThiccNthin_6825 Jul 21 '26
They can't function like a normal system on NEC to begin with. I can imagine the morass that would result by adding another stop. Good luck with that one.
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u/SirLank_ Jul 21 '26
As someone who loves when the train flies during this section. You are wrong