United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company - The Line Today

The Line Today

The original C&A alignment and the Trenton Branch, from Pavonia Yard in Camden to Trenton was, up until 1999, labeled as Conrail's Bordentown Secondary. It is presently operating as New Jersey Transit's River Line, a Diesel multiple unit light rail transit system. Freight trains still operate overnight on the line, under a Federal Railroad Administration waiver. The rest of the Trenton Branch is now part of Amtrak's Northeast Corridor.

The original line from Bordentown heading north to Robbinsville is operated by CSX as the Robbinsville Industrial Track. The tracks end south of Robbinsville. The line was ripped up heading through the town of Robbinsville all the way to the north end of Hightstown by Conrail. Outside of Hightstown, CSX manages its Cranbury Branch on the former line which connects to Monmouth Junction and South Amboy via Jamesburg.

The Princeton Branch is still used by New Jersey Transit for passengers. The old alignment in Trenton is still used for freight; the old alignment from Rocky Hill to Monmouth Junction was abandoned in 1983 by Conrail, and the Rocky Hill Branch was obliterated by Conrail for the use of a rail trail along the D&R Canal. However, the Florence Branch still exists.

For 49 miles east from Trenton to the site of Manhattan Transfer station the line is part of the Northeast Corridor; from there east to the east side of the Palisades PATH and Conrail's Passaic and Harsimus Line occupy the right-of-way, side by side. East of the Palisades, the elevated structure to Exchange Place Terminal has been largely torn down, as has the elevated structure to Harsimus Cove (with the exception of the embankment), but PATH follows the alignment of the former underground.