The Pennsylvania Railroad depot at Princeton Junction caught fire on December 27, 1953. The fire, believed to be caused by rodents eating electrical wire, trapped the station caretaker that lived in the building. Virginia Worrilow, the caretaker, stated that she heard a crackling noise similar to a fire from several years prior. When she opened the door to check on the fire, Worrilow had flames trap her in the second-story room. Worrilow escaped to the roof of the station and police rescued her. However, her dog perished in the fire.[5]
In 1965, a prototype for the high-speed Metroliner passed through the station at the record speed (at that time) of 164 miles per hour (264 km/h) on a short demonstration run. Very few sections of the Northeast Corridor were capable of handling that speed, and most had to be upgraded before Penn Central's Metroliner service was introduced in 1969. A speed of 170.8 mph (274.9 km/h) was achieved on the same portion of the track on December 20, 1967, when the U.S.-built UAC TurboTrain set the rail speed record in North America. A plaque at the station commemorates the event.[10][11]
The present station house was built in 1987.[12] Most of Amtrak's Princeton Junction service prior to 2005 was Clocker service commuter traffic to New York, Newark, or Philadelphia. On October 28, 2005, the Clockers were replaced by NJT trains that run only as far south as Trenton.[citation needed]
The Northbound Crescent stopped here from November 24, 2022 to July 4, 2023.[13][14]
On October 13, 2023, Amtrak announced Princeton Junction station, along with New Brunswick station, would receive upgraded service due to increased demand.[15]
Transit village
Princeton Junction has been designated the core of the West Windsor transit village, a smart growth initiative to promote transit-oriented development which can include government incentives to encourage compact, higher density, mixed-use development within walking distance of the station.[16] Development adjacent to the station permits higher densities and will include retail end entertainment elements.[17]
Service
Princeton Branch "Dinky" in 1971
As of 2017, Princeton Junction was the 6th-busiest station in the NJ Transit rail system, with an average of 6,817 weekday boardings.[6] In addition to the Northeast Corridor Line, NJT operates a 2.7-mile (4.3 km) spur line, the Princeton Branch, to Princeton station located at the Princeton University campus in Princeton. The shuttle is colloquially known as the "Dinky",[18] and has also been known as the "PJ&B" (for "Princeton Junction and Back").[19] Two train cars, or sometimes just one, are used. A single switch connects the branch to the Northeast Corridor tracks north of the station.
Service on the Princeton Branch was suspended from October 14, 2018 through May 11, 2019, replaced by shuttle buses, as part of NJT's systemwide service reductions during the installation and testing of positive train control.[20][21]
Amtrak provides two early-morning trains to Washington, D.C., and two evening returns, as well as one morning train to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and one evening return, all of which call at Philadelphia. Many more Amtrak trains stop at the nearby Trenton Transit Center. Until 2007, all Amtrak Pennsylvanian trains stopped at Princeton Junction. The southbound Amtrak Palmetto began stopping in Princeton Junction on weekdays in October 2015.
The station has two high-level side platforms. Most of Amtrak's Northeast Corridor lines bypass the station via the inner tracks, except for select Keystone and Northeast Regional trains and the weekday southbound Palmetto.[25] The next northbound station is Jersey Avenue, but all northbound trains originating in Trenton skip this station and service New Brunswick, with other trains originating at Jersey Avenue.
^Rosenbaum, Joel; Gallo, Tom (1997). NJ Transit Rail Operations. Railpace Newsmagazine. Archived from the original on October 3, 2011. Retrieved October 9, 2011.
^"Fact Sheet 2008". Central New jersey Route 1 Bus Rapid Transit Project. New Jersey Transit. 2008. Archived from the original on October 14, 2013. Retrieved April 1, 2012.
^"Central NJ Route 1 BRT"(PDF). NJ Transit Bus Service: The Next Generation. New Jersey Transit. April 26, 2010. Archived from the original(PDF) on October 13, 2013. Retrieved March 30, 2012.
Commons Italics denote closed stations, stations under construction, and unused line segments. Stations north of Montvale are operated by Metro-North Railroad
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