Arlington station (NJ Transit)

Arlington is an abandoned train station in the Arlington section of Kearny, New Jersey. The station was a former stop on the Boonton Line, which runs from Hoboken Terminal to Hackettstown. Train service was discontinued on September 20, 2002 when the Montclair Connection was opened.

Accident

On September 8, 1965, three Kearny High School students were struck and killed by a two car Erie Lackawanna train. The trio, on their way to the first day of the fall term, crossed the tracks at the Elm Street crossing next to the station despite the gate being down. Thinking the warning lights were for a departing east bound train (towards Hoboken), the three students went around the barrier. A boxcar parked in a siding next to the station blocked the victims from seeing the oncoming west bound express train.

All three (Robert Floyd, 16, Rodney Murdock, 16, and Richard Collins, 15) were killed instantly. Both the train's fireman and conductor were later arraigned on charges of manslaughter. Following the accident, the town of Kearny began to have physical guards at the crossing during school hours.

See also

• Benson Street – First of two additional stations that were removed with the Montclair Connection.
• Rowe Street – Second of two additional stations that were removed with the Montclair Connection.
• West Arlington station – Second of two stations in Arlington for the Erie Lackawanna Railway.

References