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Summit (NJT station)
Encyclopedia
Summit Station is a train station
Train station
A train station, also called a railroad station or railway station and often shortened to just station,"Station" is commonly understood to mean "train station" unless otherwise qualified. This is evident from dictionary entries e.g...
located in Summit
Summit, New Jersey
Summit is a city in Union County, New Jersey, United States. At the 2010 United States Census, the city's population was 21,457. Summit had the 16th-highest per capita income in the state as of the 2000 Census....
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, which is served by New Jersey Transit
New Jersey Transit
The New Jersey Transit Corporation is a statewide public transportation system serving the United States state of New Jersey, and New York, Orange, and Rockland counties in New York State...
's Morris & Essex Lines
Morris & Essex Lines
The Morris & Essex Lines are a group of former Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad railroad lines in New Jersey now owned and operated by New Jersey Transit...
(the Gladstone Branch
Gladstone Branch
The Gladstone Branch is a branch of New Jersey Transit's Morris and Essex Lines. The Gladstone Branch primarily serves commuter trains; freight service is no longer operated...
and Morristown Line
Morristown Line
The Morristown Line is one of New Jersey Transit's commuter lines and is one of two branches that run along the Morris and Essex Lines. Out of 60 inbound and 58 outbound daily weekday trains, 28 inbound and 26 outbound trains use the Kearny Connection to Secaucus Junction and New York Penn...
). 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
Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad
The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Company was a railroad connecting Pennsylvania's Lackawanna Valley, rich in anthracite coal, to Hoboken, New Jersey, , Buffalo and Oswego, New York...
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 TerminalHoboken Terminal
Hoboken Terminal is one of the New York Metropolitan area's major transportation hubs. The commuter-oriented intermodal facility, is located on the Hudson River in Hoboken, New Jersey...
. 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.
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
PGA Championship
The PGA Championship is an annual golf tournament conducted by the PGA of America as part of the PGA Tour. It is one of the four major championships in men's professional golf, and is the golf season's final major, usually played in mid-August, customarily four weeks after The Open Championship...
at the Baltusrol Golf Club
Baltusrol Golf Club
The Baltusrol Golf Club is a private 36-hole golf club located in Springfield Township, Union County, New Jersey. Among the many prestigious tournaments it has hosted, Baltusrol was most recently the site of the 2005 PGA Championship. The course architect is A. W...
in nearby Springfield
Springfield Township, Union County, New Jersey
Township of Springfield is a township in Union County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township population increased to a record high of 15,817....
. 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.
During the Summer months in recent years (since at least 2005), the Gladstone branch has been shut down on weekends for ongoing maintenance (generally after Memorial Day to Labor Day). From Independence Day to Labor day, weekday (Gladstone line) trains are replaced by buses between morning and afternoon rush hours (from about 9AM to 3PM) along certain parts, if not the whole line. In lieu of trains, buses are used to travel for all stops, Summit to Gladstone and back, maintaining the same weekend (and/or weekday) schedule. Depending on passenger traffic, one to three buses are used for each run.
Due to the availability of trains and potential destinations, it draws commuters
Commuting
Commuting is regular travel between one's place of residence and place of work or full time study. It sometimes refers to any regular or often repeated traveling between locations when not work related.- History :...
from not just Summit but many surrounding communities. The station thus boasts not only a small adjacent parking lot
Parking lot
A parking lot , also known as car lot, is a cleared area that is intended for parking vehicles. Usually, the term refers to a dedicated area that has been provided with a durable or semi-durable surface....
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 tire
Tire
A tire or tyre is a ring-shaped covering that fits around a wheel rim to protect it and enable better vehicle performance by providing a flexible cushion that absorbs shock while keeping the wheel in close contact with the ground...
s of the many unclaimed vehicles in it for every day they remained there, in order to help identify those missing.