December 15, 2003
An intermodal transit hub in the town of Secaucus in northeastern New Jersey was officially opened. This 321,000-square foot (29,800-square-meter) railway station, which is operated by New Jersey Transit (NJ Transit), is five miles (8.1 kilometers) east of Newark Penn Station and five miles (8.1 kilometers) west of New York Penn Station.
While widely known as Secaucus Transfer during its planning stages, the completed facility was formally named after Frank Raleigh Lautenberg (1924-2013). Lautenberg, who served as U.S. senator from New Jersey from 1982 to 2001 and again from 2003 until his death, was a strong public transit advocate who played an instrumental role in securing funds for the station in Secaucus.
The Monday morning rush-hour debut of the Frank R. Lautenberg Rail Station at Secaucus Junction was extensively covered by the Herald-News, which is based in the nearby city of Passaic. “A New York Ride to Work — Secaucus Transfer Station Lightens Commute,” announced a front-page headline in the next day’s edition of this newspaper. In their accompanying story about the new station, Herald-News reporters Jerry Barca and Matthew Verrinder focused on the commuting experiences of one New Jersey resident in particular who was traveling on a regular basis at that time to get to her workplace in the Big Apple.
“Mary Ann Schorr used to choose between leaving her Clifton home at 6 a.m. to drive to New York City or spending 90 minutes taking three trains to her Midtown job,” recounted Barca and Verrinder in their article. “The Hush Puppies sales executive got to work 45 minutes earlier than usual, by way of the new NJ Transit station in Secaucus.” As Schorr confirmed, “It means an extra half hour of sleep.”
Secaucus Junction has become one of the busiest railway stations in North America. This facility is served by 11 of NJ Transit’s 12 commuter rail lines. In 2016, a bus terminal was added to the station.
Photo Credit: Public Domain
For more information on New Jersey Transit Rail Operations, please check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NJ_Transit_Rail_Operations
Additional information on the busiest railway stations in North America is available at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_busiest_railway_stations_in_North_America
Transportation History 
Leave a comment