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Home<New York<Metro-North<Port Jervis Line<Suffern, NY
Home<New Jersey<NJ Transit Rail<Main Line<Suffern, NY
Home<New Jersey<NJ Transit Rail<Bergen County Line<Suffern, NY

Suffern, NY is a train station stuck between two state jurisdictions. It is located in New York State but operated by New Jersey Transit with New Jersey Transit signage and staffed for one morning shift a day by a New Jersey Transit ticket agent. Signs for the station on nearby roads are in the Metro-North format and look like the signs for any other Metro-North Station. The reason for this confusion is this station is where the New Jersey Transit's Main and Bergin County Lines end that provide hourly or better service with these routes main yard, the Suffern Yard located just north of the station (and nicely visible from the New York State Throughway) continuing service north of the station is provided by Metro-North's much less frequent Port Jervis Line with through trains to and from Hoboken mostly running as non-stop or couple stop expresses (most trains also stop at Ramsey Route 17) south of here although a few trains are simply extensions of Bergen County Line Trains.

Until 1941 the station was located a quarter mile north of todays station where the former (now just a long industrial track) spur track led to Spring Valley and connected to the Pascack Valley Line. The original depot was torn down but the smaller Wells Fargo Mail Depot exists to this day and is home to the Suffern Railroad Museum celebrating this town's heritage with the railroad. Parking lots surround this area and are used by the Suffern Municipal Parking Authority for railroad commuter parking.

The station itself is a simple two tracks with two 5 car low-level side platforms. The station is located at grade-level with both platforms beginning with an enclosed by black canopies and clear walls staircase from the underpass of Chestnut Street and running south. The Port Jervis-bound platform is extremely simple with a single double-wide with doors bus shelter for waiting passengers. Orange Avenue (US-202) is directly parallel and at the same level as the platform but a fence (with a locked gate) keeps pedestrians from reaching this street (Chestnut Streets underpass of the tracks also passes under this street) and all access is via the single staircase at the northern end of the platform down to Chestnut Streets underpass that is also the station's crossunder. This warrants an obnoxious station access award.

The station's closest to the platforms 116-space parking lot (NJT's website http://www.njtransit.com/rg/rg_servlet.srv?hdnPageAction=TrainStationLookupFrom&selStation=144&x=51&y=9 lists 6 possible parking lots scattered throughout the village) is directly along the Hoboken-bound platform and extends back to Ramapo Avenue. For waiting passengers a modern canopy structure in the same Metro-North design as those found at Port Jervis Line stations farther north provides shelter over more than half of this platform. A small medallion in the middle has a sketch of a grander predecessor station. Set back from the northern end of the platform is the stations simple wooden with wood paneled exterior walls and brown trim station house. It seems like a hastily built building during World War II supply shortages. Inside the station is the still open for one morning shift (6:30am to 1:30pm) ticket office and a couple of wooden benches, along with a single unisex restroom.

The Hoboken-bound platform has a walkway that extends along what was once the trackbed perhaps or provisions for a third track over Chestnut Streets underpass and leads to a short walkway to a wooden staircase down to a second, larger 181 space parking lot.
Photos 1-9: 29 May, 2008; 10-61: 4 June, 2013

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Looking down the inbound platform at Suffern as a Hoboken-bound midday express train coming from Port Jervis is stopped at the station, the train will only make three more stops on it's way to Hoboken (Ramsey Route 17, Ridgewood and Secaucus). Fittingly Metro-North Comet V #6761 is visible on the train which is operated by NJ transit under contract with Metro-North.
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NJ Transit GP40-PH2 Locomotive #4100 pushes a Hoboken-bound Metro-North express train coming from Port Jervis out of Suffern.
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NJ Transit GP40-PH2 Locomotive #4100 continues pushing a train south of Suffern.
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An old Suffern station wooden sign on the now completely locked station house.
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A modern New Jersey Transit Suffern Station sign, even though the station is in the state of New York it is owned, controlled and maintained by New Jersey Transit which has it's main terminal yard for the Main & Bergen County Line trains just north of the station, all with in the confines of New York State.
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Another view down the southbound platform at Suffern, even though the stations appearance appears to be a New Jersey Transit Station, the canopy looks quite similar to some built at various Metro-North Stations farther north.
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Another view of the 1941 station house at Suffern.
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A New Jersey Transit directional sign at Suffern with the direction to the underpass for Trains to Port Jervis and an exit to the street.
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NJT F40PH-2CAT Locomotive #4125 stopped at Suffern to begin entering service as a three coach southbound local Bergen County Line train to Hoboken.
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A sign entering the Village of Suffern, there is a drawing of a locomotive
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Across from the Wells Fargo Building where the passenger station was until 1941
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A Metro-North Railroad sign for Suffern
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The two tracks converge (the other is now a short industrial spur, it used to lead to Spring Valley and the Pascack Valley Line) where the old station once was, now parking for the train station and town
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The 1909 Wells Fargo Express Mail Depot that used to be next to a grand Victorian Station
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The eves of the 1909 Wells Fargo Express Mail Depot
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Sign for the original location of Suffern's Depot
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Another view of the 1909 Wells Fargo Express Mail Depot
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Looking across the fence that requires all passengers to leave the Port Jervis-bound platform via a staircase to Chestnut Street
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Looking across the locked gate from US-202 that doesn't provide any platform access although it should, perhaps there is a worry about double-parked cars waiting for passengers on this highway
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Across sidewalk-less US-202 from the staircase off the Port Jervis-bound platform
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Last Updated: 19 July, 2015
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