A major freight train derailment in Union Township has caused the indefinite shutdown of NJ Transit's Raritan Valley Line.

RVL service is suspended between Newark Penn Station and Cranford, and between Raritan and High Bridge, said Nancy Snyder, an NJ Transit spokeswoman. NJ Transit buses and private carrier buses are cross-honoring rail tickets, she said.

The CSX Transportation train was on its way to Selkirk, N.Y., when it derailed, a Conrail spokeswoman said. Union police and Conrail said no one was injured in the crash. A spokesman for Union County, Sebastian D'Elia, said the train, which was coming from Philadelphia, derailed at two locations along the track, near the football field at Kean University and also near Galloping Hill Road.

It may take more than a day for service to be fully restored, he also said.

The cause was not immediately known.

News 12 New Jersey reported that the derailment involved empty cars and that residents living near the tracks were evacuated. They were allowed back into their homes once officials determined no hazrdous materials were released in the crash.

"This is crazy. Ive been waiting for a while but I can't get in to my storage unit because the officer says the area was being evacuated.... I'm just glad no one got hurt," said Marie Augustine, a Bloomfield resident who works in New York and was at the Kean campus Friday.

The train derailed in Union Township on tracks that are used by both NJ Transit and freight trains. A photo from a news helicopter shows at least 10 cars derailed on one part of the train, which had more than 100 cars, and a tanker derailed near an NJ Transit station.

Taylor Tiamoyo Harris contributed to this report

Larry Higgs may be reached at lhiggs@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @commutinglarry. Find NJ.com on Facebook.