The station is located at milepost 14.6 on the Conrail Lehigh Line. This is part of the former Lehigh Valley Railroad main line, built by LV subsidiary Newark & Roselle Railway. The Township of Union had been served until the 1940s by Townley station, 0.5 miles to the east at milepost 14.1. With the station demolished by the Lehigh Valley Railroad in the 1940s, officials decided not to add a stop in 1967 during the Aldene Plan. The project was a joint program between the railroads, the New Jersey Department of Transportation, and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which elevated trackage above ground level to eliminate grade crossings and rerouted Central Railroad of New Jersey trains to Pennsylvania Station in Newark, New Jersey.
When bankruptcy struck the Central Railroad of New Jersey and Lehigh Valley Railroad, the railroads were forced to fold into the Consolidated Rail Corporation on April 1, 1976. On that date, the New Jersey Department of Transportation took over commuter rail operations. In 1981 the state government created NJ Transit to oversee all commuter operations, rail and bus, in the state. Since then, NJ Transit has continued to operate and expand services on the Raritan Valley Line.
Completed in 2003 at a cost of $24.8 million, the station filled the eight mile stretch Newark Penn Station and Roselle Park station. It is adjacent to Kean University. Station amenities include a waiting room, rest rooms, vendors, and a 464-space parking lot. The station features artwork reproducing the 40th parallel of the Earth's northern hemisphere, and shows cities through which the 40th parallel runs including Lisbon, Rome, and Beijing. Currently, the station is served by 53 weekday and 36 weekend NJ Transit trains.
Dedication
On September 24, 2013, the station was dedicated to Congressman Bob Franks.[4]
