2011: The Opening of a Light Rail Station in New Jersey

January 31, 2011

In northeastern New Jersey’s Hudson County, a light rail station at 40 West 8^th Street in the city of Bayonne was officially opened. 8^th Street station is specifically based in Bayonne’s Bergen Point neighborhood. This station is the southern terminus of the 17-mile (27.-kilometer) Hudson-Bergen Light Rail (HBLR) system in that region of Garden State. HBLR is owned by New Jersey Transit and operated by the 21^st Century Rail Corporation. The other Hudson County communities served by this system include the cities of Bayonne, Jersey City, Hoboken, and Union City; and the townships of Weehawken and North Bergen.

Construction on 8^th Street station began in October 2008. This station was designed to resemble a Victorian-style railroad depot that was opened at that same location in 1892 and would remain there until being demolished in the late 1970s.

The opening of the present-day transit facility at 8^th Street was marked by considerable fanfare. As part of these festivities, a special light rail train transported various dignitaries from HBLR’s 34^th Street station there in Bayonne to the newest station. The dignitaries included Albio Sires, who served as the U.S. representative for that section of the Garden State from 2006 to 2023.

“Since opening nearly 11 years ago, the light rail line has benefited Hudson County and the region by providing mass transit opportunities for our residents,” asserted Sires. “I am pleased that this latest expansion of the light rail system will provide greater mass transit access for the residents of Bayonne.” Sires also alluded to the prevailing wintry weather and snow-related challenges to further underscore the potential benefits of a light rail station in that neighborhood of the city. He said, “Days like this, it just proves our point that we need the train to get around, we need the light rail to get around.”

The artwork on display at 8^th Street station includes Locomotion, which was designed by Tom Nussbaum. This stainless steel sculpture — featured in the accompanying photo of the area just outside the station itself — is comprised of locomotive wheels that evoke Bayonne’s railroad heritage. Another piece of artwork at 8^th Street station is a mural entitled Bayonne: Port City of Homes and Industry. This mural, which was created by Richard Haas and can be seen in the station’s entranceway, consists of images highlighting several of the city’s major landmarks.

Photo Credit: Luigi Novi (licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en)

For more information on the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail’s 8^th Street station, please check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8th_Street_station_(Hudson%E2%80%93Bergen_Light_Rail)