Editing Northern Branch (section)

{{Short description|Railway line in New Jersey}}
{{About|a freight rail line|the proposed light rail line|Northern Branch Corridor Project|the Northern Branch of the Fujiwara noble family|Hokke (Fujiwara)}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2018}}
{{Infobox rail line
 | box_width     =
 | name          = Northern Branch
 | color         =
 | logo          =
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 | image         = Abandoned Northern Branch Railroad Track looking North northvale NJ.jpg
 | image_width   =
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 | caption       = Northern Branch in [[Northvale, New Jersey]]
 | type          =
 | system        =
 | status        =
 | locale        =
 | start         = [[Jersey City, New Jersey|Jersey City]]
 | end           = [[Northvale, New Jersey|Northvale]] (originally to [[Nyack, New York|Nyack]])
 | stations      =
 | routes        =
 | daily_ridership = 
 | ridership2    =
 | open          = 1859
 | close         = 1966 (passenger service)
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 | tracks = 
 | gauge         = {{RailGauge|sg|allk=on}}
 | old_gauge = {{RailGauge|6ft|lk=on}} <!-- [[User:NE2/nonstandard gauge#6 ft (1,829 mm)]] -->
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 | map_state     = collapsed
}}
{{Erie Railroad-Northern Branch}}

The '''Northern Branch''' is a railroad line that runs from [[Jersey City, New Jersey|Jersey City]] to [[Northvale, New Jersey|Northvale]] in [[northeastern New Jersey]], and formerly extended further into New York State. The line was constructed in 1859 by the '''Northern Railroad of New Jersey''' to connect the [[New York and Erie Railroad]]'s [[Piermont Branch]] terminus in [[Piermont, New York]], directly to Erie's primary terminal in [[Jersey City, New Jersey|Jersey City]], initially [[Exchange Place station (Pennsylvania Railroad)|Exchange Place]], later [[Pavonia Terminal]]. In 1870 the line was extended to [[Nyack, New York]], and continued to provide passenger service until 1966. After the Erie's unsuccessful merger with the [[Lackawanna Railroad]] to form the [[Erie-Lackawanna]], ownership of the line passed into the hands of [[Conrail]] upon its formation in 1976 from a number of bankrupt railroads (including the E-L).

The line survives as two separate but connected sections. The Northern Running Track is an approximately two-mile-long freight railroad line in [[Hudson County, New Jersey]]. It runs from the [[Passaic and Harsimus Line]] at [[Marion Junction (New Jersey)|Marion Junction]] in western Jersey City north to the [[North Bergen Yard]] and the [[CSX Transportation]]'s [[River Subdivision (CSX)|River Subdivision]]. North of the [[rail yard]] the Northern Branch diverges from the River Subdivision and continues north to the New York state line as a minor spur.

The [[Northern Branch Corridor Project]] is a [[NJ Transit]] proposal to restore passenger service on the line as an extension of the [[Hudson–Bergen Light Rail]] from the current [[Tonnelle Avenue (HBLR station)|Tonnelle Avenue terminus]] in North Bergen to [[Englewood, New Jersey|Englewood]].