Gladstone Branch

Gladstone Branch
Gladstone Branch train at Far Hills en route to Summit.
Overview
Owner	New Jersey Transit (except from Kearny Connection to New York Penn) Amtrak (Kearny to Penn)
Locale	North Jersey
Termini	Hoboken NY Penn Station (two rush hour trips) Gladstone
Stations	24
Service
Type	Commuter rail
System	New Jersey Transit Rail Operations
Operator(s)	New Jersey Transit
Rolling stock	ALP-46 and ALP-45DP locomotives, MultiLevel coaches, Comet coaches, Arrow III multiple units
Technical
Line length	42.3 mi (68.1 km)
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Electrification	Overhead line, 25 kV 60 Hz AC
Route map Legend Gladstone Gladstone Yard Peapack Far Hills US 202 Mine Brook closed Bernardsville I-287 Basking Ridge Lyons Passaic River Millington Stirling Gillette Passaic River Berkeley Heights Murray Hill New Providence M&E to Hackettstown via Morristown Summit Rahway Valley Railroad to Roselle Park Route 24 Short Hills Rahway River Millburn Maplewood South Orange Mountain Station Highland Avenue I-280 Orange Brick Church East Orange G.S. Parkway Grove Street MOBO to Hackettstown via Montclair Roseville Avenue I-280 Newark Light Rail Newark Broad Street Newark Drawbridge over Passaic River Harrison Harrison Cut-off Northeast Corridor to Washington Kearny Connection │   Sawtooth Kearny Connection │ Bridges Sawtooth │ Waterfront Connection Hackensack River Meadows Maintenance Complex MAIN & BCL to Suffern Secaucus Junction Bergen Tunnels Hoboken Yard Hoboken Terminal North River Tunnels under Hudson River NJ NY New York Penn Station East River Tunnels under East River Sunnyside Yard LIRR Main Line to Long Island & Amtrak NEC to Boston This diagram: view talk edit

The Gladstone Branch (also known as the Gladstone Line) is a commuter rail line operated by NJ Transit from Gladstone station, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, to either Hoboken Terminal or New York Penn Station. It is one of two branches of the Morris & Essex Lines.

The Gladstone Branch junctions with the Morristown Line at Summit. East of Newark Broad Street station, trains may either continue to Hoboken Terminal, where PATH trains or NY Waterway ferries allow connection to New York, or use the Kearny Connection to diverge to New York Penn Station; two peak-hour trains from Gladstone offer direct trips to/from New York Penn Station.^[1]

On weekdays during rush hours, the line operates in two zones: all stops from Hoboken to Summit; or express from Hoboken to Short Hills (one station east of Summit), and then local to Gladstone. All weekend and off-peak service is local across the entire line.

The part of the line west of Summit is single-tracked with passing sidings at Murray Hill, Stirling, Bernardsville and west of Far Hills. The line primarily operates in the eastbound direction weekday peak hours, except for a small number of reverse peak trains. On weekends the line operates Gladstone-Summit service hourly along the branch. Until August 13, 2006 all trains continued to Hoboken. On that date, service between Hoboken and Summit was cut back to once every two hours on weekends. On May 11, 2008, off-peak weekday Hoboken-Dover trains (600 Series) were cut. In addition, weekend Gladstone trains were cut back to Summit, and a shuttle train operated every two hours between Newark Broad Street and Hoboken Terminal. (This shuttle train was later extended to provide bihourly service to Bay Street on the Montclair-Boonton Line). Passengers for Penn Station connect at Summit to/from a Dover/Penn Station train.

The line is colored pale green on system maps and its symbol is a horse, a reference to the Grand National Hurdle Stakes steeplechase race held in the area.