Broad Street Station

UPDATES:
2001: The westbound shelter is scheduled for demolition, and changes to station platforms are under review. Research continues.

2009: From 2004 to 2008, the station was renovated. The station changed from having 2 outside low platforms, with walkways across one track to the middle track, to having 2 high platforms, one of them an island platform, to facilitate cross-platform transfers. The historic westbound shelter was removed in the project and new westbound waiting areas were built. However, much of the station was saved and restored.

DESCRIPTION:
The Broad Street Station is one of the finest examples of railroad architecture in New Jersey. Built about 1906 on the Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western line from Hoboken to Denville, it was completed just as the tracks were elevated through Newark. It is notable for its elegant clock tower, its beautiful stone and brick exterior, and the way in which its two sides form a unified design.

Built for another age, the Broad Street station is not adequate to the passenger traffic of today. Bottle necks are feared from the Newark-Elizabeth rail link, Midtown direct, and the Montclair Connection all of which will pass through Broad Street. The three tracks are too close to one another for trains from all three lines to stop at the same time. To make room for a third train to stop, New Jersey Transit, which operates the station, wants to demolish the westbound station. Moreover, on the newer services passengers enter the trains at platform level, but Broad Street was designed for the passengers to climb up from track level. Raising the platforms will interfere with the roof line.

CONTACT:
Charles Scott, NJ HPO
P.O. Box 404
Trenton, NJ
08625-0404
609-633-2396

Elizabeth Del Tufo, Newark Preservation, and Landmarks Committee
973-621-8900

James Lepari
973-824-4863