Passengers board the train using built in steps on the train which are popped prior to arriving at the Perth Amboy Train Station

By Ron Miskoff

PERTH AMBOY – After years of waiting, the decaying Perth Amboy Train Station is finally on schedule to be upgraded and modernized, beginning as soon as the start of 2019.

NJ Transit and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) are both in agreement that the schedule projected in mid-2017 is holding, and work could start as soon as the spring. Ever since the original plans for improvement were announced, NJ Transit has been working to create the blueprints for the upgrade, officials said.

The train station, which is served by NJ Transit, needs approval from the federal government to begin construction. According to Nathan Rudy, a spokesman for NJ Transit, 30 percent of the design plans were submitted to the FTA early in August. The plans, he explained, do not have to be complete to allow the federal government to go ahead with the  needed approvals.

“Once the plans are approved, we will bid it out,” said Rudy.

The Perth Amboy Train Station
*Photos by Paul W. Wang

The FTA, meanwhile, is looking at the plans to make sure that they comply with the many requirements that the federal government stipulates for commuter rail lines.

“New Jersey Transit submitted information to FTA regarding the upcoming renovation and improvement project at the Perth Amboy New Jersey Transit Railroad station,” wrote Steven Taubenkibel, a spokesman for the FTA, in response to an inquiry from the Amboy Guardian. “FTA is reviewing the information to ensure it complies with the National Environmental Policy Act, National Historic Preservation Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act.  FTA anticipates completing its review later this year.”

That would be by the end of December.

In NJ Transit’s 2019 fiscal year budget, $4 million — approved in August this year as part of the agency’s entire budget — was earmarked for improvement to the Perth Amboy station. Another $9 million was approved to rebuild the Elizabeth rail station, and $7 million for other station and terminal improvements, inspections and repairs around the state.

The Perth Amboy station, which has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1984, has been in need of repairs for years. But, moreover, the station does not comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Specifically, there are no elevators to assist travelers who need to get from street level to the level where trains stop, a drop of about 20 feet. The staircases have been patched. In addition, the station itself does not have what is known as a high-level platform, enabling passengers to simply step across the gap from the platform onto the train.

This means that conductors must assist travelers who need to get from the low-level (ground level) platform onto the train. The Conductors pop a door on the train which uncover built-in steps for lower platform stations right before entering Perth Amboy Train Station. This allows passengers to get off the train onto a ground level platform and vice-versa. 

Clearly, the station in its current state discourages traveling by handicapped and elderly passengers. As a result, this makes it difficult for the city to attract new housing and businesses because of the inability to use transportation that is standard in other cities the size and age of Perth Amboy.

The plans that have been submitted to the FTA include making the station comply with the law. Two new high-level platforms, one for passengers headed north and one for passengers heading south, are part of the plans. In addition the plans include the construction of four new elevators as well as stairs and ramps and the coveted high-level platform access. Included are plans to upgrade existing restrooms and the existing terminal buildings.

The plan got kick-started at the end of 2016 when the state Department of Environment Protection included the Perth Amboy station in its “environmental assessment process” to put the station at the head of the line. Mayor Wilda Diaz has been an outspoken proponent of the upgrade though she was not available to comment for this story.

The Perth Amboy station serves the North Jersey Coastline, which begins in Bay Head at the New Jersey shore and runs into Newark Penn Station and New York Penn Station. Passengers can get off in Newark and make connections to Hoboken and other stops via the PATH lines.

According to Railway Age, an industry publication, the capital expenditure program now underway by NJ Transit also continues investments in railroad bridge rehabilitation, track replacement, signal upgrades and repairs to overhead “catenary and electric substations” as well as investments into the state-of-good-repair of the Northeast Corridor (NEC), NJT’s most-utilized rail line. The NEC line, which principally runs from Trenton to Manhattan, meets the North Jersey Coastline in Rahway.

A catenary is the curve that a hanging chain or cable assumes under its own weight when supported only at its ends.

The projected completion date for the Perth Amboy train station upgrade is estimated to be May 2021, though the station will generally be in service from the start of construction until it is finished. That means that, as upgrades are completed, they should be put into use as soon as they are safe.

Stairs on Northbound (shown) and Southbound side have been patched.