More than 50,000 people use the terminal daily, making it the tenth-busiest railroad station in North America and the sixth-busiest in the New York area.

In 1930, Thomas Edison was at the controls for the first departure of a regular-service electric multiple-unit train from Hoboken Terminal to Montclair.

Hoboken Terminal is considered a milestone in American transportation development, initially combining rail, ferry, subway, streetcar, and pedestrian services.

Cuts and tunnels were constructed through Bergen Hill to rail–ferry terminals on the west bank of the river and the Upper New York Bay.

[16] In 1930, Thomas Edison was at the controls for the first departure of a regular-service electric multiple unit train from Hoboken Terminal to Montclair.

[15] At the peak of intercity rail service, five passenger terminals were operated by competing railroad companies along the Hudson Waterfront.

[25] Ferry service from the terminal to lower Manhattan ended on November 22, 1967,[26] due to declining ridership and revenues.

Commuters from New Jersey used the NY Waterway ferry to Hoboken Terminal as an alternative, and passengers said it was so packed it caused concern.

[35] Access to the Region's Core (ARC) was a proposed commuter-rail project to add new rail tunnels under the Hudson River, but the plan was canceled in 2010.

In 2013, the New Jersey General Assembly passed a resolution supporting the extension of New York City Number 7 subway into Secaucus as a cheaper alternative to the proposed ARC tunnel.

[36][37] The plans never went through despite the idea being revived as possibly being a part of, or along with, the Gateway Project, which also proposes new tunnels, and bridges over the Hudson River.

[50] NJ Transit and LCOR agreed to a ground lease for the Hoboken Connect site in March 2024,[51][52] and work began that May.

[53][54] In October 2024, the PANYNJ announced that the PATH station at Hoboken Terminal would be closed for most of February 2025 so the tracks, platforms, and four staircases could be replaced.

[60] On the morning of September 29, 2016, an NJ Transit train crashed through a stopblock and into the concourse of the station, killing one person and injuring more than 110 people.

[67]: 2 The station is unusual for a New York City area commuter railroad terminal in that it still has low-level platforms, requiring passengers to use stairs on the train to board and alight.

The Long Slip Fill and Rail Enhancement project is anticipated to add three high-level accessible-accessible platforms to the south side of the terminal.

The second tower includes a clock with 12-foot (3.7 m) diameter faces and 4-foot-high (1.2 m) copper letters, which spell out "LACKAWANNA", whose fiber optic technology allows them to be lit from dusk to midnight.

[69] The large main waiting room features floral and Greek Revival motifs in tiled stained glass by Louis Comfort Tiffany set atop bands of pale cement.

A grand double stair with decorative cast-iron railings within the main waiting room provides an entrance to the upper-level ferry concourse.

[73][74][75] PATH trains provide 24-hour service from a three-track underground terminal located north of the surface platforms.

Travel to Newark Penn Station always requires a transfer, as does weekday service to Journal Square Transportation Center.

It is at this corner that Observer Highway begins running parallel to the tracks and creating a de facto border for Hoboken.

[89] In 2009, pedestrian access to the terminal from the south was made possible with the opening of a new segment of the Hudson River Waterfront Walkway.

[90] The station has been used for film shoots, including Funny Girl, Three Days of the Condor, Once Upon a Time in America, The Station Agent, The Curse of the Jade Scorpion,[91] Julie & Julia, Kal Ho Naa Ho, Rod Stewart's "Downtown Train" video (1990) and Eric Clapton's video for his 1996 single "Change the World".