The system began operating its first segment in April 2000, expanded in phases during the next decade, and was completed with the opening of its southern terminus on January 31, 2011.

[4] Despite its name, the system does not serve Bergen County, into which long-standing plans for expansion have not advanced due to repeated requests for new environmental review reports since 2007.

With an eventual overall cost of approximately $2.2 billion to complete its initial operating segments, the Hudson–Bergen Light Rail was one of the largest ever public works projects in New Jersey.

The system is a component of the state's "smart growth" strategy to reduce auto-ridership and to revitalize older urban and suburban areas through transit-oriented development.

In 1996, New Jersey Transit awarded a "DBOM" (design/build/operate/maintain) contract to the 21st Century Rail Corporation, a subsidiary of Washington Group International, an engineering and construction consulting firm later acquired by URS, then AECOM.

Under the contract, 21st Century Rail would deliver a fleet of vehicles, a guaranteed completion date, and 15 years of operation and maintenance of the system,[12] for a fixed price.

[13] Original plans called for extending the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail north to the Vince Lombardi Park & Ride in Ridgefield, south to 5th Street in Bayonne, and west to Droyer's Point in Jersey City.

[15] The light rail opened to the public on April 15, 2000, with an initial operating segment connecting Bayonne 34th Street and Exchange Place, as well as the spur line to West Side Avenue.

On September 29, 2002, service was extended to Hoboken Terminal, which completed MOS-1, the first Minimum Operating Segment (MOS) of the project, at the cost of $992 million.

For example, the Liberty State Park station features glass tiles representing a number of "fallen flag" railroad logos.

Paid transfer to the Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) is possible at Exchange Place, Newport and Hoboken Terminal, where connections to NJT commuter rail service are also available.

NJT and other buses serve most stations.Like most other light rail services in the United States, the HBLR operates on a proof-of-payment system, in which riders must present their tickets upon request during random fare inspections.

Senior citizens (62 and older; valid ID may be requested), passengers with disabilities, and children under 12 may travel on the light rail at a reduced fare of $1.25.

[32] Like the rest of NJ Transit's other transportation modes, it does not accept the MetroCard nor OMNY although it has plans to create a new fare payment system in the future.

[33][34] In May 2012, NJ Transit and NY Waterway introduced a monthly or ten-trip discounted combination fare for passengers using the HBLR and ferry at Weehawken Port Imperial.

A new curved viaduct was constructed eastward from 8th Street to 11th Street in Bayonne to join the existing right-of way to Liberty State Park, which was once the main line of the Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ), parts of which rest on the bed of the Morris Canal; CNJ's Newark and New York Branch right-of-way was used for the line west to West Side Avenue.

In order to obtain the right-of-way for the line north from Hoboken, NJT paid to upgrade the Northern Running Track, allowing Conrail to shift its operations.

The HBLR runs at the foot the Hudson Palisades under NJT's Hoboken Terminal lines with the 2nd Street station north of the ROW.

[67] According to The New York Times, NJT approved plans in June 2013 for a new light rail station in northwestern Hoboken, near property owned by the Rockefeller Group, which wanted to build a 40-story office tower in that area near the city's northern border with Weehawken.

[70] but came to light after Mayor of Hoboken Dawn Zimmer, appearing on MSNBC on January 18, 2014,[71] claimed that Lt Governor Kim Guadagno and Richard Constable, director of the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, had earlier insinuated to her that more Sandy relief funds would be released to the city if it approved the project proposed by Rockefeller.

[87] The two branches of the HBLR system create the northern and eastern borders of Canal Crossing, a planned New Urbanist community in Jersey City.

[91] There have been discussions to extend the system westward to either or both Secaucus Junction, a major interchange station of New Jersey Transit rail operations, and to the Meadowlands Sports Complex (MSC).

Possible routes include one from Downtown Jersey City, via the Harsimus Stem Embankment and Bergen Arches, or an extension of the line from Tonnelle Avenue.

[101] In that year, Parsons Brinckerhoff, a consulting firm, released another report commission by the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) describing the conditions and analysis of various options.

[104] In the first decade of the 21st century, studies sponsored by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority were conducted to address mass transit options to the MSC, including the possible extension of HBLR from its northern terminus through Secaucus and across the Hackensack River.

In the 2010s the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey raised the roadbed of the bridge by 64 feet (20 m), in order to provide the 215-foot (66 m) clearance required by the newer post-panamax container ships to pass under it.

[125] The light rail has been a catalyst for both residential and commercial development along the route and has played a significant role in the revitalization of Hudson County.

[128] Two New Urbanism projects in Jersey City, Bayfront and Canal Crossing, are being planned with the expectation that new stations will be built in conjunction with their development.

Other developments are either planned or already underway in Hoboken, Union City, Bayonne, and Weehawken, in areas very near to light rail stations.