I was waiting today at Princeton Jct shortly after 3:00 PM for train 3954 (scheduled 3:12 leaving Princeton Junction), which is supposed to stop at New Brunswick and then express to Newark Airport. Around 3:10 a train came and I got on it, as there is nothing else in the timetable within about 30 minutes. I thought it was funny that it left 2 minutes early, and then after stopping at New Brunswick, the conductor announces it is a local, with next stop Edison, Metuchen, etc, and indeed it was. I asked the conductor, and he said it was 3154, running about 20 min late. The thing is, the first stop for 3154 is supposed to be New Brunswick, with no stop in Princeton Junction (according to printed and on-line timetables), and that seems to be the case with other 31xx trains.
Does anyone have any idea why it stopped at Princeton Junction? Was 3954 running so late that 3154 stopped for "courtesy pickup"? I suppose that the train must originate out of Morrisville or else this wouldn't have been possible.
It was not a late 3852 (scheduled local 2:22 out of Princeton Jct,) because we didn't stop at North Elizabeth, which 3852 does.
One other note - 3154 was a local, but it ran about 7 minutes faster than the usual local schedule from Princeton Jct to EWR - I guess they didn't dawdle on platforms more than they needed to - even though it was a fairly full train with considerable traffic at every stop. Too bad they can't protect that schedule for all locals, but it was good to know they can do it! JS
Does anyone have any idea why it stopped at Princeton Junction? Was 3954 running so late that 3154 stopped for "courtesy pickup"? I suppose that the train must originate out of Morrisville or else this wouldn't have been possible.
It was not a late 3852 (scheduled local 2:22 out of Princeton Jct,) because we didn't stop at North Elizabeth, which 3852 does.
One other note - 3154 was a local, but it ran about 7 minutes faster than the usual local schedule from Princeton Jct to EWR - I guess they didn't dawdle on platforms more than they needed to - even though it was a fairly full train with considerable traffic at every stop. Too bad they can't protect that schedule for all locals, but it was good to know they can do it! JS