Rahway is a very complex station on the Northeast Corridor located just north of the Perth Amboy Junction where the North Jersey Coast Line splits off the Northeast Corridor. It presently receives service from about three trains per hour, two on the Northeast Corridor Line heading to Trenton, and one on the North Jersey Coast Line to Long Branch. Historically Amtrak served the station briefly in its first year in the brief time before Metropark opened. In the May 1971 timetable there is one southbound train on weekdays, with northbound service on Saturday and twice on Sunday. In the November 1971 timetable just one southbound trip on weekdays. By the June 1972 timetable service was gone with the new Metropark station now open as the suburban Amtrak station.
The station is located on an embankment like most of the NEC. It has a massive number tracks with six in the station, with a gap in the middle of them. This gap is especially noticeable in the elevated structure's overpasses of city streets allowing sunlight to pour down onto the local streets below. The configuration of the high-level platforms are unusual. An island platform is for southbound trains, with a side platform for northbound trains. The configuration is Track-Southbound Platform-5 Tracks-Northbound Platform. The station is located on a raised embankment/viaduct above the streets of this downtown city, and was last rehabilitated with a dedication on August 13, 1998. Another feature about the platforms is the southbound one is nearly 850 feet long and the southbound only about 630 feet long. The southern ends of both platforms is at the same place, and staircases lead down to single wooden low-level platforms at the southern end of the platform.
In the middle of both platforms is where the main station area is. Along both platforms this is where the canopy structure is and covers about three cars. Quite oversized cream-colored columns hold up a green gabled roof. The main station house and waiting area is accessed from three doors only on the Newark-bound platform. This leads inside to a now unstaffed waiting area with three wooden benches, restrooms, and a closed ticket office with a window now labeled Police. All tickets must be purchased at TVMs with some located on both platforms. In this area an elevator and a staircase lead down to 'Station Plaza,' a large pedestrian plaza outside of the station. Inside the plaza there are a few shops at street level and an entirely decorative tall clock tower that is suspended above the station's bike racks. Connecting from station plaza is a pedestrian tunnel. This tunnel is fairly well lit and well tiled (with red and cream colored tiling) and leads to Broad Street at the other end. The staircase down to Station Plaza even from the Newark-bound platform are labeled Broad Street parallel to the tracks. In the middle of the tunnel there is a staircase and an elevator up to the Trenton/Long Branch-bound platform. Here on that platform is another waiting area. This room is strictly a waiting area with benches and walls made of semi-translucent glass that also surround the elevator and staircases up to this platform.
There are two more entrances to each platform from the two streets that cross beneath the elevated tracks at the station. At the southern end of the station is Milton Avenue. The staircase to the Trenton/Bay Head-bound platform is from the north sidewalk, to the New York-bound platform it is from the south sidewalk. At the northern end of the station a staircase leads down from the southbound platform to the west side of Irving Street between Broad and Cherry Streets. The staircase from the northbound side platform is to the SW corner of Irving and Cherry Streets.
Photos 1-64 taken on 29 May, 2008, 65-126 on 22 October, 2012, 127-150 on 3 April, 2013