Cranford–Bayonne Shuttle

Cranford–Bayonne Shuttle

Overview
Status	Discontinued
Locale	Bayonne, NJ; Cranford, NJ
First service	May 1, 1967
Last service	August 6, 1978
Former operator(s)	Central Railroad of New Jersey Conrail
Route
Start	Cranford
End	East 33rd Street
Line(s) used	Main Line (Central Railroad of New Jersey)
Technical
Rolling stock	Budd Rail Diesel Cars
Route map Cranford-Bayonne Shuttle Raritan Valley Line to Phillipsburg Cranford Raritan Valley Line to Newark Roselle–Roselle Park Elizabeth Elizabethport West 8th Street East 22nd Street East 33rd Street

The Cranford–Bayonne Shuttle (also called the Bayonne Scoot) was a commuter rail service operated by Central Railroad of New Jersey, and later Conrail. It operated as a shuttle train on the remaining section of the Central Railroad of New Jersey's main line between Cranford and East 33rd Street, using Budd Diesel Rail Cars.

It was discontinued on 1978 due to low ridership and losing money.

Route

The shuttle originated at Cranford station and headed to East 33rd Street. Stops at this route included Roselle–Roselle Park, Elizabeth, Elizabethport, West 8th Street, and East 22nd Street.

History

When the Aldene Plan went into effect in May 1967, it changed commuter railroading in North Jersey forever. The people of Bayonne & Jersey City complained about being severed from commuter service to the mainland side of Newark Bay. As a concession to a few hundred factory workers that worked along the CNJ east of Aldene, Budd Rail Diesel Cars were operated as the "Bayonne Scoot" between Cranford and Bayonne over the CRRNJ Newark Bay Bridge. The "Scoot" ran between 33rd Street Station in Bayonne to Cranford & back. At Cranford they could make connections to Penn Station in Newark for other connections to NYC, South or West via PATH, Penn Central, CNJ or Amtrak.

Operations were neglected; riders blamed poor service and delays for forcing them to seek alternate modes of transportation. Ridership dropped from 1,000 to 400 persons a day.

It was discontinued on August 6, 1978 after losing money for years by Conrail and New Jersey Department of Transportation. The state subsidy determined to operate the line would have been $1.5 million, up from $875,000 in 1974. It would be replaced with substitute bus service, which would run from Elizabeth to Bayonne, via Staten Island, in 47 minutes, saving $1 million. The bus service would not run on weekends, and would be discontinued if ridership was insufficient.

The line between Aldene and Elizabethport continued to be used by New Jersey Transit to access the Elizabethport Shops, when the shops closed in 1988, and the Meadowlands Maintainence Complex opened in 1992. The former shops were demolished between 1989 and 1996, as part of the urban renewal of Jersey City.

The section between 8th Street and East 33rd Street stations was made part of the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail in 2011. However, the 8th Street station is elevated.

---