Formed in 1979 to operate local bus services, New Jersey Transit (commonly known as NJT or NJ Transit) is an offspring of the New Jersey Department of Transportation, and in 1983 it took over operations of New Jersey’s commuter trains from the financially-troubled Conrail as well.
Gradually, from the mid-1980s onward, the “reach” of NJT expanded greatly, and as of today, it’s one the largest statewide transit agencies in the United States, operating almost the entirety of passenger railroad services in the state (including light rails), with the few notable exceptions being Amtrak and the separated PATH system, and also the vast majority of urban and inter-urban busses.
NJT has two divisions: “transit bus” operations and “rail operations”. The former operates a total of 871 bus routes served by 2477 vehicles plus the Newark and Hudson-Bergen Light rail systems (20,6 miles or 33,2 Km long and 5,3 miles or 7,5 Km long respectively), served by 74 double-articulated LRVs manufactured by Kinki Sharyo.
The latter operates an extensive 529,967 miles (852,9Km) long railroad network formed by 12 lines, part of wich is electrified at 12,5Kv 25Hz or 25Kv 60Hz (both AC) catenary and served by a variety of diesel and electric locomotives hauling push-pull formations of either single or double decker passenger cars or EMUs.
NJT also operates the “River Line”, a 34 mile (55Km) long regional railway line (officially classified as a “light rail”) operated with Swiss-made Stadler GTW 2/6 DMUs.
With 61 electric locomotives in service, NJ Transit is the second-largest operator of electric locomotives in the United States, just behind Amtrak.