Summit (NJT station)

Summit
File:Summit NJT station 2.jpg Gladstone train waits on the Wall Track in view from east end.
Coordinates
Owned by	New Jersey Transit
Line(s)
Platforms	2 (1 island platform, 1 side platform)
Tracks	3
Connections	NJT Bus: 70, 986 Lakeland: 78
Construction
Disabled access	Yes
Other information
Fare zone	9
History
Opened	1905
Traffic
Passengers (2012)	3,638 (average weekday)
Services
Preceding station   NJ Transit Rail   Following station New Providence toward Gladstone Gladstone Branch Short Hills toward Hoboken or New York Penn Station Chatham toward Hackettstown Morristown Line Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Chatham toward Buffalo Main Line Short Hills toward Hoboken New Providence toward Gladstone Gladstone Branch Roseville Avenue toward Hoboken

Summit is a train station located in Summit, New Jersey, which is served by New Jersey Transit's Morris & Essex Lines (the Gladstone Branch and Morristown Line). The station is located between Union Place on the north and Broad Street on the south, with station access via either side, and between Summit Avenue on the east and Maple Avenue on the west. Constructed in 1904-05 by the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad in a mile-long open cut, it is notable for being one of the few NJ Transit stations with its platforms below street level.

Station layout and services

There are three tracks and two platforms at the station, Track 1, Track 2, and Track 3, the latter more commonly referred to on site as the "Wall Track," which is located on the Broad Street side of the Station. The Track 1 platform (on the north side) is accessible via the Station overpass or from the Station parking lot originating at street level from Union Place near Summit Avenue. Track 2 and the Wall Track are accessible only via the Station overpass to a shared platform. In the early morning hours, trains on the Gladstone Branch originate at Gladstone Station with a final destination to Hoboken Terminal. Trains going to New York Pennsylvania Station (New York Penn Station) originate in Dover. As of 2009, Track 1 is mainly used for all trains going westbound (Dover or Gladstone). Track 2 and the Wall Track are currently used during the week (Monday to Friday) for all trains going eastbound (New York or Hoboken final stops). The Wall Track is mainly used by the Gladstone Branch, though under certain circumstances, Track 2 and the Wall Track are shared by both lines.

In 2017, NJ Transit will complete construction of a pocket track near Summit station to ease turn-around of trains during rush hour. Given the current infrastructure, turn-around of trains in Summit clogs up a significant amount of track capacity. The new track will able to accommodate 12 car trains which will allow NJ Transit to increase capacity on New York and Hoboken bound trains.

Trains originating from Dover have final stops in both New York Penn Station and Hoboken Station. Trains out of Hoboken Station with Summit Station as a connection have final stops in Dover or Gladstone. All trains originating in New York with a Summit Station connection have a Dover destination (check the current schedule for further details).

On weekends and Holidays (noted in the current train schedule), Track 1 is not used. Currently (2009), trains originating from Gladstone use Summit as a final destination (on the Wall Track). That same train is then used as a Gladstone bound train originating at Summit Station upon the arrival of the Dover bound train. Trains originating in Dover follow though to New York, picking up passengers at Summit Station (on Track 2) desiring to go to Hoboken, where Hoboken-bound passengers then transfer at Newark Broad Street Station. Trains originating in New York then use Summit as a transfer Station for passengers going to stops along the Gladstone line, and then itself for passengers going towards Dover Station.

The station waiting room has a small coffee and newspaper shop that is open at morning commute time and then through the afternoon rush hour. The station was cosmetically renovated for the 2005 PGA Championship at the Baltusrol Golf Club in nearby Springfield. Status screens were installed on the platforms to show the next train and the platforms and fittings were painted. The screens are still present (as of December, 2009), but they have very rarely been in active use since the PGA Championship. During that time, buses were used as the connection to go to and from the PGA Championship.

The station has not only a small adjacent parking lot on its own property that slopes down from Union Place, but also a large lot just across Summit Avenue, accessible from Broad Street. In the 1990s, a multistory parking garage was built on part of the Broad Street lot. In the days after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the city made chalk marks on the tires of the many unclaimed vehicles in it for every day they remained there, in order to help identify those missing.

Gallery

• 

  Station building on Union Place in downtown Summit

• 

  New Jersey Transit Midtown Direct train in Summit

External links

• NJT rail station information page for Summit
• DepartureVision real time train information for Summit
• Morris and Essex Line schedule (Morristown Line & Gladstone Branch)
• Station House from Google Maps Street View