If built, it would be operated by New Jersey Transit and would connect the downtown areas of Newark and Elizabeth with Newark Liberty International Airport.

The construction of the project was being planned in stages, or "minimum operable segments" (MOS).

The first minimum operable segment (MOS-1) opened to the public on July 17, 2006, as the Newark Light Rail's Broad Street Extension, connecting Broad Street Station and Penn Station in Newark.

New Jersey Transit cited the project in its 2016 Capital Improvement Program without any specific allocation.

[2] The planned Liberty Corridor Bus Rapid Transit Service which include the Greater Newark go bus and the Union go bus expressway, will provide service along much of the route of the NERL.