45th Street station is an active light rail station on the Hudson–Bergen Light Rail (HBLR) in Bayonne, New Jersey. Located next to Avenue E and East 45th Street (along with Route 440), it is the northernmost station of four in Bayonne. 45th Street station contains a single island platform, with two tracks (one on each side). The stop also contain a single overhang for weather protection with windscreens. It also contains an elevator, reaching street level to the Avenue E and East Centre Street junction, helping make the stop accessible to handicapped persons. Trains through 45th Street station operate between 8th Street station in Bayonne and Hoboken Terminal in Hoboken. There also is an express service, known as the Bayonne Flyer, which operates between the same terminals, but skips local stops between 45th Street and Essex Street station, along with Harsimus Cove station.
45th Street station is built at the site of the former Central Railroad of New Jersey station at the same junction. The station replaced a former stop located at East 49th Street (known originally as Pamrapo, followed by the eponymous East 49th Street). The East 45th Street station opened on April 3, 1918, when they moved it west. After a failed attempt to close the station outright in January–March 1954, the railroad eliminated the agent. The station depot at East 45th Street station came down in 1961 when the railroad replaced the Center Street Bridge as part of construction of Route 169. Service ended on April 30, 1967 with the implementation of the Aldene Plan, which truncated service from Communipaw Terminal in Jersey City to East 33rd Street station.
Construction of the Hudson–Bergen Light Rail began in 1998. The station opened on April 15, 2000.
History Jersey Central station Railroad service in the Bayonne area began on August 1, 1864 when the Central Railroad of New Jersey began service between Jersey City and Bergen Point. In Bayonne, four stations were opened: Bergen Point (West 8th Street), Centreville (East 22nd Street), the namesake Bayonne (East 33rd Street) and finally, Pamrapo (located at East 49th Street). The station name changed to East 49th Street, denoting the street by 1895. The railroad maintained a two-story, wood and brick station depot at the East 49th Street. The Public Utilities Commission on June 1, 1916 approved moving the station west on the tracks to the East 45th Street and Center Street area. This new station opened on April 3, 1918. The new station at East 45th Street contained two depots. The westbound station was while the eastbound depot was in design. The railroad retained a freight house at East 49th Street.
As part of construction of an interceptor sewer pipe in Bayonne, the city of Bayonne agreed in October 1953 to pay the railroad for the elimination of the eastbound station shelter and stairway at the East 45th Street station. The costs to remove the structures would come to $5,230 (1953 USD) and new replacements would be built once construction ended on the new interceptor sewer. As part of the deal, the railroad would provide all materials and labor for the demolition and replacement, rather than the city or their contractors. Because of the $5,230 being a total produced before construction, the city agreed to pay all cost overruns for the project, but would be refunded for the difference by the railroad.
1954 closing threat On January 15, 1954, the Central Railroad of New Jersey announced plans to eliminate passenger service at the East 45th Street station on April 25, citing low ridership. East 45th Street station in Bayonne would be one of three stops eliminated to help improve service between Jersey City and points west, including the Claremont station in Jersey City and the Aldene station in Union County. Lorraine station in Elizabeth would see a reduction of service. The railroad stated they chose to eliminate East 45th Street due to the proximity of other stations in the area (West 8th, East 22nd and East 33rd). A study of passenger ridership at the four Bayonne stations stated that 789 people used the station daily compared to 1,383 at East 33rd, 1,259 at East 22nd and 4,262 people at the West 8th Street station. However, all plans to close the stations were dependent on a hearing by the New Jersey Public Utilities Commission.
Opposition was immediate and intense. One article in The Bayonne Times stated that while East 45th Street station had the lowest ridership, it also depended on how many trains actually stopped at the station. West 8th Street, which had the highest daily ridership of the four Bayonne stations, had more daily train stops than East 45th Street. The writer also stated that the fare differences between the West 8th and East 45th stops were not insiginificant. A weekly train pass from West 8th Street to Jersey City was $3.15 (1954 USD) while a pass from East 45th Street cost only $2.35. Adding the bus fare involved of $1.00, the writer felt that it would drive ridership to buses and using the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad. A four-page pamphlet also came from Central Railroad officials on its train, neglected to mention any improvements in Bayonne and only communities from Elizabeth and west.
The Bayonne Chamber of Commerce voted unanimously on January 20 to pass a resolution decrying the abandonment of the East 45th Street station. Paul Lawler, a local housing commissioner, stated at a Chamber of Commerce luncheon that they would create undue hardship for riders and reduce property values in the area. They also resolved to ensure that they would be present at a Public Utilities Commission hearing. Bayonne Mayor Edward F. Clark vowed on January 21 to fight the decision by the Central Railroad of New Jersey. Clark wrote to the Bayonne City Attorney, Alfred Brenner to protest at the hearing. Clark told Brenner that he felt the 800 citizens of the area who East 45th Street station should not be allowed to suffer for other municipalities' sake.
Civilian opposition to the project also was intense. The January 15 pamphlet, according to one resident, only focused on Elizabeth and municipalities due west and had no interest in anything focused in Bayonne. Another resident wrote to The Bayonne Times, stating that the station had more ridership than the Van Nostrand Place and Greenville stations in Jersey City and that a stop at East 45th Street would not interrupt service west of Elizabeth to any significant degree. This writer also stated that East 45th Street station did not need any significant structures and that shelters would be alright, but that the train stopping there was more important.
A resident of West 41st Street stated that the railroad had already gone out of its way to make ridership at East 45th Street more inconvenient, citing that they had to switch to the East 33rd Street station when the railroad eliminated a stop that meets a ferry at 6:30 a.m. The railroad also stopped operating any trains that stopped at East 45th Street station after 6:07 p.m. and that many people coming from New York City would be unable to catch that train due to being out of work after 5:30 p.m. An anonymous resident stated that the railroad also created hazards for the riders by removing one of the stairway exists on the westbound platform and the change of location of the eastbound shelter. They also decried the lack of Bayonne influence on the meeting, stating that the group that created the rail schedules chaired W.F. Scott, the mayor of Somerville. Walter R. Calhoun wrote his own letter directed to Hortense Kessler, the chair of the Public Utilities Commission. Calhoun asked if the Commission could withhold any decisions or orders until local residents obtained a chance to protest the decision. Calhoun felt it necessary to get data for their argument and commuters to form a committee to be heard at the hearing. With the statistics the Central Railroad gave in their pamphlet, Calhoun stated that the closure would cost commuters $0.09 extra per rider.
On January 25, the Bayonne Planning Board made their opposition to the proposal official at a meeting at the 16th Street Firehouse. They stated that the parking facilities at East 33rd Street were sufficient, but the industries surrounding the East 45th Street station need to provide space for to allow parking at the station. They also felt that any development of the Long Docks would result in a long walking commute from East 33rd Street that a stop at East 45th Street would not result in.
The heavy opposition began to affect the Central Railroad of New Jersey's decision making. On January 26, a railroad official stated to the press that they would have to consider adjusting their decisions if the opposition continued to be fierce. The official stated that the committee that made the schedule in conjunction with the railroad felt that East 45th Street station was only from East 33rd Street and ridership would be willing to move. As part of the proposal, it would revise the timetable or work on the track speed between the East 33rd and East 45th Street stations. However, they asked in return for their flexibility to give the railroad six to eight weeks to make decisions. On January 28, proposed timetables that would go into effect on April 25 were released. Train service in the city of Bayonne would be dropped from 112 westbound and 120 eastbound to 75 westbound and 74 eastbound on weekdays. Aside of the closure of East 45th Street station, the new timetables noted that West 8th Street station would see 39 westbound and 41 eastbound stops (reduction from 47 in each direction); East 33rd Street (the closest to East 45th Street) would drop from 23 westbound and 26 eastbound to 23 and 22, respectively. Weekend service would also be curtailed in a similar fashion.
Entering February 1954, opposition from local groups in Bayonne continued to grow. The Veterans of World War I Bayonne Barracks 96 added their voice to the East 45th Street station abandonment controversy on February 2. The same day, the Bayonne Lions Club also voted unanimously to oppose the closure. Their resolution also added that the Club would send copies of their resolution to the hearing. Local residents in Hudson County joined together to form their own municipal ridership committee on February 2. The Mayor of Weehawken, Charles Krause, spearheaded the formation of the committee and contact other Hudson County municipalities to press for their involvement. However, that same day, the city of Bayonne were notified that the Public Utilities Commission would hold a hearing on February 15.
Civic engagement on the subject continued when Commissioners George Prendeville and Thomas Domenico, along with Banner and Deputy Mayor Michael Lennon would attend the hearing on behalf of city. Brenner also urged local residents who could not leave their jobs to go to the hearing in Newark to send their significant others to the hearing in support the city's positions. The municipality would also be offering free bus service to Newark for Bayonne residents interested in attending the hearing. These buses would leave Bayonne at 10 a.m. on February 15. Walter R. Calhoun Sr., who wrote the letter in January 1953 to Hortense Kessler, had been elected as new chair of the committee of residences and would be on the buses to Newark. The Junior Chamber of Commerce also joined the list of civic organizations opposed to the closure, passing their own resolution.