[9] One of the New York metropolitan area's major transportation hubs, Newark Penn Station is served by multiple rail and bus carriers, making it the seventh busiest rail station in the United States, and the fourth busiest in the New York City metropolitan area.

The station is also Newark's main intercity bus terminal; it is served by carriers Greyhound, Bolt, and Fullington Trailways.

The main waiting room has medallions showing the history of transportation, from wagons to steamships to cars and airplanes, the eventual doom of the railroad age.

PRR then scheduled 232 weekday trains through Newark, about two-thirds of them to or from New York Penn Station and the rest to/from Exchange Place in Jersey City.

Newark Penn Station was extensively renovated in 2007, with restoration of the facade and historic interior materials (e.g., plaster ceilings, marble and limestone, windows, lighting fixtures), as well as train platform and equipment improvements.

[18] The bull, who had escaped from a nearby slaughterhouse, was tranquilized, safely removed from the tracks, and transported to Skylands Animal Sanctuary in Wantage, where he was named Ricardo.

[19][20] In 2023 ground was broken on the Mulberry Commons Pedestrian Bridge, a 1⁄2-mile (0.80 km) footbridge over McCarter Highway and the Northeast Corridor and a new train hall entrance with direct access to the platforms at Newark Penn.

Due to the wide availability of alternatives, including the Northeast Regional and Acela, passengers are not usually allowed to use Amtrak's long distance trains to Florida, New Orleans, or Chicago for local travel between Newark and New York.

[28][29] Newark Penn Station is the western terminus of the Newark–World Trade Center line of the PATH train, operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.