Major Renovations Coming To New Brunswick Train Station

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — Last Tuesday, Oct. 15, NJ Transit, Amtrak and Gov. Phil Murphy announced major renovations coming to four New Jersey train stations: New Brunswick, Trenton Transit Center, Princeton Junction and Elizabeth.

In New Brunswick, NJ Transit is investing in a range of station improvements, such as new elevators, escalators and a fully renovated waiting room. Customers will start noticing the work when it begins this autumn and it will last well into the summer of 2020, said a spokeswoman for the transit agency.

At the New Brunswick station — one of the most-used train stations in the NJ Transit system — the elevators and escalators will be entirely replaced. They will also be extending the New York City-bound platforms for extra boarding capacity. The new platform won't be completed until fall of 2021, the agency said.

The aging New Brunswick train station itself will also be getting a massive overhaul, with NJ Transit promising to add new lighting and windows to the train station, improve the HVAC system, give it a fresh coat of paint and "significant rehabilitation of the station’s exterior brick façade," vows NJ Transit.

The waiting room will also be renovated and that will be completed in the fall of 2020.

The new elevator bay won't be completed until summer 2020 and the new escalators won't be operational until spring 2021.

The work will start this fall. The New Brunswick train station will stay fully open for use throughout all the improvements.

The total cost of all the projects at the New Brunswick train station is $21 million. Approximately $9 million will come from the Federal Highway Administration and the balance will come from New Jersey's Transportation Trust Fund.

Here are the renovations planned for Princeton Junction, Elizabeth and Trenton Transit Center:

• Elizabeth train station – Upgrades include the addition of two new elevators; updating the existing two elevators; the addition of ADA-complaint ramps; and building new high-level platforms, which will also increase the platform area for passengers.
• Trenton Transit Center – Replacement of damaged timber boards that are located past the yellow warning strip on the platform to improve customer safety.
• Princeton Junction Station – General platform repairs to improve customer safety, including the refresh of platforms that have deteriorated for decades from exposure to weather and de-icing agents. This includes reinforcing the platform supports, patching concrete, repainting the yellow warning strip, and general repair of the stairs and handrails.

In total, all the work is being paid for using federal funds and New Jersey taxpayer dollars.

In a statement last week, NJ Transit's CEO Kevin Corbett acknowledged the relationship between NJ Transit and Amtrak has been — for lack of a better word — tense in the past. Prior to this, Amtrak and NJ Transit have squabbled over which agency will pay for infrastructure improvements such as this.

“Before I joined NJ Transit in February 2018, our relationship with Amtrak was fractured, to say the least,” said NJ Transit's CEO Kevin Corbett. “I'm pleased to report that today our partnership with Amtrak is stronger than ever."

"We are proud to finalize a new agreement with Amtrak that has not only resulted in projects along the Northeast Corridor advancing far more smoothly, but ensures that Amtrak is investing those dollars in New Jersey infrastructure improvements," he said.