45th Street

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 700 feet (210 m) 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.

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, 21-by-51-foot (6.4 m × 15.5 m) wood and brick station depot at the East 49th Street. The Public Utilities Commission on June 1, 1916 approved moving the station 700 feet (210 m) 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 50 by 20 feet (15.2 m × 6.1 m) while the eastbound depot was 128 by 16 feet (39.0 m × 4.9 m) in design. The railroad retained a 16-by-24-foot (4.9 m × 7.3 m) 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.

Data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).