Chatham (NJT station)

Chatham
View east along tracks from south platform
Location	Railroad Plaza & Fairmount Avenue Chatham, NJ 07928
Coordinates
Line(s)
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	2
Connections	NJT Bus: 873
Construction
Parking	420 spaces
Bicycle facilities	yes
Other information
Fare zone	10
History
Opened	January 1, 1838
Rebuilt	1914–1915
Electrified	1931
Traffic
Passengers (2012)	1,596 (average weekday)
Services
Preceding station   NJ Transit Rail   Following station Madison toward Hackettstown Morristown Line Summit toward Hoboken or New York Penn Station Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Madison toward Buffalo Main Line Summit toward Hoboken

Chatham is a railway station in Chatham Borough, New Jersey. A commuter rail station, Chatham receives rail service from statewide provider New Jersey Transit on its Morristown Line, a branch of the Morris & Essex Lines. Trains on the Morristown Line go to both Hoboken Terminal and New York Penn Station.

History

Chatham station opened on January 1, 1838 along with other stations on the Morris and Essex Railroad between Orange (at one time the western terminus of the line) and Morristown. During the beginnings of the rail in the area, Chatham was the home of a relatively well-utilised and large rail yard because of the steep grades in the surrounding area. In the early 1900s, the station was mainly used by vacationers from New York City who came to Chatham to experience what was then considered a beautiful town away from the bustling city. A number of hotels on Main Street served this vacation interest.

A new elevated station was built in 1914 with a tunnel connecting the two platforms. The station was located at Fairmount Avenue, one block from Main Street. Distinctive weeping Mulberry trees were planted to enhance the station and the area of its two plazas.

The presence of a train station in Chatham Borough would later prove a vital role in population increases following WWII in adjacent Chatham Township, when rural lands in the township began to be developed for residential use, because of the easy commute to Manhattan.

In 1929, the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad, the owners of the railway at the time, spent $100 million to electrify the Morris & Essex lines. This meant that Chatham station would be electrified and would be served by electric trains, some of the first in the United States. During summer 2007, operator New Jersey Transit replaced the tracks at Chatham along with those on the rest of the Morristown Line, upgrading them to have more advanced and reliable concrete ties rather than older wooden types. The exterior of the station recently went under renovation. Some of the renovations the station received included a new paint job and a new roof.

Current train service

Chatham is located on New Jersey Transit's Morristown Line of the Morris & Essex Lines. The station receives traffic bound for and coming from both of New Jersey Transit's main terminals: Hoboken Terminal and New York Penn Station. Trains bound eastward toward these two nodes arrive in an alternating fashion at Chatham, so that a Hoboken bound train will be followed by a New York bound train. Service is relatively frequent, with morning rush hour trains arriving at intervals of as little as six minutes. During off-peak hours, trains heading toward each node come at hourly gaps, meaning a train arrives at Chatham almost every thirty minutes during non-rush hour times. This amount of service is only comparable to that of the Northeast Corridor Line.

External links

• NJT rail station information page for Chatham
• DepartureVision real time train information for Chatham
• Morris and Essex Line schedule (Morristown Line & Gladstone Branch)