Richard Street station is a station on the Hudson–Bergen Light Rail (HBLR) located in the Greenville section of Jersey City, New Jersey. Located at the end of Richard Street next to the northeast end of Bayside Park, the station services local trains of the Hudson–Bergen Light Rail between 8th Street station in Bayonne and Hoboken Terminal. The station contains a single island platform and two tracks. The station is accessible for handicapped persons as part of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, with ramps and platform level matching with trains. The station opened on April 15, 2000 as part of the original operating segment of the Hudson–Bergen Light Rail.
Richard Street station was built north of the site of a former Central Railroad of New Jersey station in the same area. Located at what is now the south end of Bayside Park, Van Nostrand Place station was a stop on the Main Line in Jersey City. Opened in 1891, later than most stations on the line, Van Nostrand Place had a smaller station compared to others, only at , and only a single story. The railroad discontinued agency services in January 1953 and in June 1958, they razed the single story depot, replacing it with two shelters (one in each direction). Passenger service to Van Nostrand Place ended on April 30, 1967, when the Aldene Plan went into effect, moving CNJ commuter services through Newark Penn Station via the Lehigh Valley Railroad. Service through Bayonne and Jersey City was truncated from Communipaw Terminal to East 33rd Street.
History
Jersey Central station
In August 1890, local citizens urged the Central Railroad of New Jersey to construct a station at Van Nostrand Place. Bayonne's former mayor David W. Oliver and Joseph Van Nostrand, a local land owner, donated land for a new station. This new land would be used to construct the grading for the new stop. The railroad promised local citizens and officials that when they completed a new bridge over four tracks and a local canal. However, construction of the new bridge completed and no station came with it. Local citizens, upset with this, reminded the railroad that the new depot at Van Nostrand Place would benefit the railroad and the city. Locals were already advertising for lots around the area of the future station, including 50 lots on Ocean Avenue, ensuring that the new residences would be in range of the new stop, along with the Jackson Avenue station on the Newark and New York Railroad.
The Bayonne Citizens' Association sent a letter in the fall of 1890 advocating for the construction of a station at Van Nostrand Place. J.H. Oberhauser, the General Superintendent, stated to the locals that plans were in place to build the station, but no timeline existed for when construction would begin.
Central Railroad engineers arrived in April 1891 to begin construction of a new station at Van Nostrand Place. The process began with surveying the land for the new stop. Progress on the new station went quickly. By June, the piledrivers had finished setting up the ground for the new station foundation. Edwards Brothers, a local subcontractor for the brickwork, would install the foundation for carpenters to begin building the depot. They started their work on June 22, with the expectation that they would by the end of the week. Oberhauser also inspected the construction. At the time, he speculated that the station would be finished by July 15, 1891. The foundation was in place by July 22. At that point, the Jersey City Building Inspector, issued permits for the construction of the depot and one at Communipaw. Both depots would be Queen Anne style architecture wooden frame structures with slate roofs. Edwards Brothers also had the contract at Communipaw. The wooden frame came up on July 25. At that point, the belief was the station would be complete by the end of August. The Van Nostrand family would also cut Van Nostrand Avenue through on their own to improve access to the new station, along with other general improvements.
By the end of September, construction of the new depot at Communipaw finished. Progress also continued rapidly on the new depot at Van Nostrand Place. The painters finished the station in October and the set completion date moved to November 1. Construction of the Van Nostrand Place station finished in November 1891 and the railroad announced that the station would open on November 16, eliminating a long walk to other stations for those in the neighborhood. However, the station opened on November 18, 1891 instead.