page_title: Meadowlands Rail Line
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Meadowlands Rail Line / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Platform of the Meadowlands Station before a New York Jets game at MetLife Stadium
context_page_description: The Meadowlands Rail Line is a rail line in New Jersey, United States, operated by New Jersey Transit. Trains run between the Meadowlands Sports Complex and Secaucus Junction, some with continuing service to Hoboken Terminal. There is a limited service on the line, with trains only operating in conjunction with major events. The line can handle 8,000 people per hour.
  The rail line was built at a cost of $185 million. Upon opening on July 20, 2009 it became the newest NJ Transit rail route. It is represented on NJT maps with the color white; unlike other lines, it does not have a logo.
  Meadowlands Station was built as a part of the rail network expansion and is next to MetLife Stadium, equidistant from Meadowlands Racetrack, Meadowlands Arena and American Dream.
context_section_description: The Meadowlands Sports Complex, which opened in 1976, was until 2009 accessible only via automobile or bus. The decision to build a rail line along the chosen route was a source of controversy. A portion of the line is a 2.3-mile-long (3.7 km) spur line connected via a new wye connection to the existing network. The line as built is a spur off the Pascack Valley Line, which travels further than if it had branched directly off the Bergen County Line. The decision to spend $6.2 million to acquire a right-of-way that travels through a federal Superfund site was also contentious.
  The opening ceremonies for the line took place on July 20, 2009. New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine, New York Giants owner John Mara, New York Jets owner Woody Johnson, and players from the Giants and Jets rode a special train from Hoboken to the new station for a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The station opened to the public on July 26, 2009, for the championship game of the CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament between the United States and Mexico. It is estimated that 6,000 arrived via the new rail line.
  Ridership to National Football League games increased by 50 percent in the rail line's second year of operation. In 2010, about 10,500 attendees at New York Jets games and 8,000 attendees at New York Giants games arrived by train.
  In an operation dubbed the Mass Transit Super Bowl for Super Bowl XLVIII on February 2, 2014, record numbers of riders took the shuttle to Meadowlands before the game, and were faced with waits of up to 90 minutes, due to security delays. After the game ended there were more delays as demanded exceeded the Meadowlands station's regular operating capacity. At one point, fans were asked to remain inside the stadium until more trains were dispatched to load passengers from the station. In total 28,301 riders arrived at the stadium and 35,264 (nearly three times as many riders as NJ Transit predicted) left via train.
  WrestleMania 35 in April 2019 was attended by 82,265 people, many of whom took the train. Due to scheduling delays, passengers had long waits before first trains departed after the event, leading to claims of incompetence NJ Transit, which had not adhered to its own schedule. NJ Transit officials claimed the 12:30 a.m. event ending caused the problem since some train engineers had reached the end of federal limit on work hours.
  In anticipation of overflow crowds attending BTS performances in May 2019, NJ Tranist advise departing concert-goers to find alternative transportation and planned additional bus service, saying that the line's capacity of 8,000 person per hour would be exceeded.
caption: The rail line provides service to Secaucus Junction and Hoboken Terminal
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