NJ Towns With a Direct Train to NYC
25 of the 33 rail towns we cover have a one-seat ride to New York Penn Station on their fastest weekday-morning train. 8 need a transfer.
Checked against NJ Transit schedule data for Wed Nov 18, 2026, trips arriving 7–9 AM. Data pulled Nov 1, 2026.
Every rail town, sorted by fastest trip
"One-seat" here means the fastest trip in the 7–9 AM window stays on one train. A slower direct train may also run from a transfer town. We didn't count those.
| Town | Station | Line | Fastest trip | Fastest / typical min | Monthly pass | 2025 effective tax rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newark | Newark Penn Station | Northeast Corridor | One-seat | 18 / 20 | $184 | 1.84% |
| Bloomfield | Watsessing Avenue | Montclair-Boonton Line | One-seat | 27 / 29 | $223 | 2.39% |
| Elizabeth | North Elizabeth | Northeast Corridor | One-seat | 29 / 32 | $255 | 2.11% |
| Maplewood | Maplewood | Gladstone Branch | One-seat | 31 / 39.5 | $276 | 2.43% |
| South Orange (Village) | South Orange | Morris & Essex Line | One-seat | 31 / 35 | $255 | 2.47% |
| Millburn (Short Hills) | Millburn | Morris & Essex Line | One-seat | 34 / 42.5 | $309 | 1.57% |
| Montclair | Bay Street | Montclair-Boonton Line | One-seat | 35 / 45.5 | $255 | 2.16% |
| Union Twp | Union | Raritan Valley Line → change at Newark Penn → Northeast Corridor | Transfer | 36 / 38 | $255 | 2.27% |
| Woodbridge‡ | Metropark | Northeast Corridor | One-seat | 36 / 39.5 | $376 | 2.23% |
| Rahway | Rahway | North Jersey Coast Line | One-seat | 37 / 52 | $328 | 2.54% |
| Fair Lawn | Radburn | Main/Bergen County Line → change at Secaucus Junction → Northeast Corridor | Transfer | 39 / 48 | $276 | 2.20% |
| Linden | Linden | Northeast Corridor | One-seat | 39 / 45 | $309 | 2.04% |
| Metuchen | Metuchen | Northeast Corridor | One-seat | 41 / 45.5 | $408 | 2.37% |
| Summit | Summit | Morris & Essex Line | One-seat | 42 / 46.5 | $362 | 1.48% |
| Cranford | Cranford | Raritan Valley Line → change at Newark Penn → Northeast Corridor | Transfer | 43 / 46 | $309 | 2.11% |
| Chatham Boro | Chatham | Morris & Essex Line | One-seat | 46 / 53 | $376 | 1.53% |
| Chatham Twp† | Chatham | Morris & Essex Line | One-seat | 46 / 53 | No in-town station† | 1.52% |
| Edison | Edison | Northeast Corridor | One-seat | 46 / 50.5 | $463 | 2.00% |
| New Providence | New Providence | Gladstone Branch | One-seat | 48 / 55.5 | $362 | 2.05% |
| Westfield | Westfield | Raritan Valley Line → change at Newark Penn → Northeast Corridor | Transfer | 48 / 51 | $328 | 1.81% |
| Madison | Madison | Morris & Essex Line | One-seat | 51 / 57.5 | $408 | 1.53% |
| New Brunswick | New Brunswick | Northeast Corridor | One-seat | 51 / 55.5 | $477 | 2.09% |
| Princeton§ | Princeton Junction | Northeast Corridor | One-seat | 53 / 56.5 | $549 | 1.81% |
| Fanwood | Fanwood | Raritan Valley Line → change at Newark Penn → Northeast Corridor | Transfer | 55 / 57 | $362 | 2.25% |
| Morris Twp | Convent Station | Morris & Essex Line | One-seat | 55 / 61.5 | $429 | 1.55% |
| Berkeley Heights | Berkeley Heights | Gladstone Branch | One-seat | 58 / 63.5 | $408 | 1.82% |
| Morristown | Morristown | Morris & Essex Line | One-seat | 59 / 65.5 | $477 | 1.68% |
| Plainfield | Netherwood | Raritan Valley Line → change at Newark Penn → Northeast Corridor | Transfer | 59 / 61 | $376 | 2.46% |
| Bridgewater | Bridgewater | Raritan Valley Line → change at Newark Penn → Northeast Corridor | Transfer | 67 / 72 | $512 | 1.83% |
| Denville | Denville | Morris & Essex Line | One-seat | 71 / 78.5 | $531 | 1.95% |
| Red Bank | Red Bank | North Jersey Coast Line | One-seat | 73 / 80.5 | $549 | 1.78% |
| Bernards Twp (Basking Ridge) | Basking Ridge | Gladstone Branch | One-seat | 75 / 80.5 | $531 | 1.71% |
| Montville | Towaco | Montclair-Boonton Line → change at Newark Broad Street → Morris & Essex Line | Transfer | 84 / 85 | $408 | 1.93% |
† Chatham Township has no station of its own. The commute shown is from the Chatham station in Chatham Borough, and no township pass price is listed. ‡ Woodbridge has three stations. The row shows Metropark ($376). Avenel is the cheapest at $362. § Princeton's row is Princeton Junction station, in West Windsor. From Princeton station via the Dinky shuttle, the fastest trip is 64 min.
Minutes run from boarding at the station to arriving at NY Penn. "Typical" is the median of the scheduled trips arriving 7–9 AM. Passes are NJ Transit adult monthly, fares effective July 1, 2026. Tax rates are the 2025 effective rate (percent of true value). Full sources are at the bottom.
What "one-seat" means
You board at your town and get off at NY Penn. No platform change.
- Midtown Direct lines (15 towns): NJ Transit's name for through service to NY Penn on the Morristown Line (Morris & Essex), Gladstone Branch and Montclair-Boonton Line (NJ Transit, Portal Bridge Cutover page). Montclair, Maplewood, Summit, Madison and Morristown are among them.
- Northeast Corridor (8 towns): Newark, Elizabeth, Linden, Metuchen, Edison, Woodbridge, New Brunswick and Princeton Junction.
- North Jersey Coast Line (2 towns): Rahway and Red Bank.
- Transfer: you change trains, usually at Newark Penn, Newark Broad Street or Secaucus Junction. Each of the 8 transfer towns below has its change point listed.
The 8 transfer towns
Cranford, Westfield, Union, Plainfield, Montville, Bridgewater, Fanwood and Fair Lawn.
| Town | Station | Fastest trip | Fastest / typical min | Wait at the change | Monthly pass |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Union Twp | Union | Raritan Valley Line → change at Newark Penn → Northeast Corridor | 36 / 38 | 5 min | $255 |
| Fair Lawn | Radburn | Main/Bergen County Line → change at Secaucus Junction → Northeast Corridor | 39 / 48 | 7 min | $276 |
| Cranford | Cranford | Raritan Valley Line → change at Newark Penn → Northeast Corridor | 43 / 46 | 5 min | $309 |
| Westfield | Westfield | Raritan Valley Line → change at Newark Penn → Northeast Corridor | 48 / 51 | 5 min | $328 |
| Fanwood | Fanwood | Raritan Valley Line → change at Newark Penn → Northeast Corridor | 55 / 57 | 5 min | $362 |
| Plainfield | Netherwood | Raritan Valley Line → change at Newark Penn → Northeast Corridor | 59 / 61 | 5 min | $376 |
| Bridgewater | Bridgewater | Raritan Valley Line → change at Newark Penn → Northeast Corridor | 67 / 72 | 5 min | $512 |
| Montville | Towaco | Montclair-Boonton Line → change at Newark Broad Street → Morris & Essex Line | 84 / 85 | 16 min | $408 |
- The wait at the change is already in the minutes above. 6 of the 8 wait only 5 minutes, the shortest change we allow. Montville waits longest, 16 minutes.
- Union's fastest trip, 36 min, beats 17 of the 25 one-seat towns' fastest trips.
Special cases
| Town | How people get to NYC | What the data shows |
|---|---|---|
| Livingston | Bus + rail. No station in town | Route 73 bus to Brick Church, then the Gladstone Branch to NY Penn: 61.2 min fastest. Pass price is the Brick Church fare, $223. Bus fare is extra and not included. |
| Scotch Plains | Bus to Port Authority, or Fanwood station next door | NJ Transit bus to Port Authority: 48.4 min fastest. The nearest rail station is in Fanwood, a transfer town (55 min fastest). No rail pass applies to Scotch Plains. |
| Hoboken | PATH | 15 min to 33rd Street. NJ Transit rail to NY Penn takes 29 min fastest with a change at Secaucus. |
| Jersey City | PATH | Grove Street to 33rd Street: 18.5 min. Newport to 33rd Street: 15 min. |
Hoboken and Jersey City aren't on NJ Transit's rail-to-Penn fare chart, so there's no pass price here. PATH times come from PATH's weekday timetable effective Oct 13, 2026 (PATH hadn't published later dates when we checked on Nov 1, 2026).
What it costs each month
Monthly passes run from $184 (Newark) to $549 (Princeton, Red Bank). The price follows the station's fare zone, not whether the ride is one-seat. The chart shows the pass at the station in the table. Towns with several stations can have a cheaper one.
The pass is only part of the monthly bill. Housing and taxes are the rest. The 2025 effective tax rate in the main table is a place to start.
Run your own numbers. The monthly cost calculator adds the pass, housing costs and taxes for the town you pick. Start from a town page, or jump in with a link like Maplewood, Cranford or Metuchen.
Want the pass price for every station, not just the fastest one? A station-by-station guide is planned: NJ Transit monthly pass cost by station. For tax rates beyond the 2025 column, see the property tax guide.
Methodology
- Towns: the 33 NJ rail towns in our data set. Hoboken and Jersey City (PATH), Livingston and Scotch Plains (bus) are covered separately above.
- Schedule day: Wed Nov 18, 2026, a regular-service weekday. Trips must arrive at NY Penn between 7:00 and 9:00 AM. That date falls after NJ Transit's Portal Bridge cutover (Oct 11–Nov 14, 2026), when weekday Midtown Direct trains are diverted to Hoboken (NJ Transit).
- Minutes: boarding time at the station to arrival at NY Penn. "Fastest" is the quickest scheduled trip in the window. "Typical" is the median of the scheduled trips in the window.
- One-seat flag: true when the fastest trip needs no change. We did not count how many of a town's trains are one-seat.
- Station shown: the town's station with the fastest trip. Towns with several stations show only that one.
- Transfers: minimum 5 minutes to change. Secaucus upper and lower levels count as one station. The Newark light rail link between Newark Broad Street and Newark Penn counts as a transfer.
- Pass price: NJ Transit adult monthly fare to NY Penn at the station shown.
- Tax rate: effective tax rate, 2025, percent of true value. It compares towns on an equal footing. It is not a bill.
- Left out: listing data, 2026 tax rates (not yet certified), and any weekend, reverse-commute or off-peak service.
Sources
- NJ Transit rail GTFS feed, via Mobility Database feed mdb-509 (service dates 2026-09-15 to 2027-03-13; downloaded Nov 1, 2026): files.mobilitydatabase.org/mdb-509/latest.zip
- NJ Transit bus GTFS feed, Mobility Database feed mdb-508 (service dates 2026-10-20 to 2027-04-17; downloaded Nov 1, 2026): files.mobilitydatabase.org/mdb-508/latest.zip
- NJ Transit, Rail Fares to New York Penn Station, fares effective July 1, 2026
- NJ Division of Taxation, 2025 Tax Rates Table, as of Jan 2026
- Port Authority of NY & NJ, PATH weekday schedules, timetable effective Oct 13, 2026, read Nov 1, 2026
- NJ Transit, Portal Bridge Cutover, read Nov 1, 2026 (Midtown Direct service name and lines)
Schedules change. Check NJ Transit before you sign a lease or a contract.