NCS to Broad Street Station ("Newark Light Rail")

Wanderer wrote:No I don't being it's not even built yet.

is this the westbound platform?

lensovet wrote:is this the westbound platform?

That is part of it. The plans in the main station just looked too modern though.

I'll wait until it's finished and I step foot on it to decide if it's great or horrible looking . I did comment earlier that so far this are going well and are progressing quick. Hopefully once this is out of the way we will see the Cutoff and The Tunnel get the same treatment.

Today I noticed a car using the "tail track" at Newark Broad to switch from one track to the other. This was not the case when the system first opened (the tail track wasn't ready in time or something like that). Not sure when it became servicable.

Anyone know what changed at the September 16th schedule change? Nothing jumps out at me.

ryanov wrote:Anyone know what changed at the September 16th schedule change? Nothing jumps out at me.

It looks like the weekend changed to me; better connections to the M&E schedule.

NJ-ARP will make sure to ask Joe North, general manager of NJ Transit's light rail operations, on Newark Light Rail scheduling when he addresses the group Saturday, Oct. 7, at NJ-ARP's annual meeting.

Our thanks to all for the input given on this thread.

NJ-ARP:

Here is some more input. You are of course free to take it or leave it.

These cars are quickly getting dirty. A thin layer of grime covers the floors and the windows are rarely wiped. Minor nuisances, but lack of cleaning in the early stages will only lead to worse conditions a year from now. I noticed a piece of gum stuck to the floor in the aisle for over two weeks--unheard of in NJT rail.

Also, these cars are already starting to show wear and tear. Pieces of molding are coming loose in some areas. I'm sure these things must be on some type of maintenance schedule. I hope they have their glue guns ready... One seat has the "fuzz" ripped from a portion of it. These things are going downhill fast!

And the horns... In an urban setting, where pedestrians walk 5 feet to the side of LRVs, it is not a great idea to blast the horn 5 times for 3 seconds each because traffic has stopped on the tracks. Instead, have NJT police or the proper authorities issue tickets. Really, the horns are much too loud for the environment they are in--IMO. Perhaps a "sock" would make them less of a earache.

Otherwise everything else is running great. The initial problems with trip times have gone away as the system seems to be a little more set in place. I think the operator for my LRV in the morning (on occasion) has been able to coordinate the lights almost perfectly all the way to NJPAC... which is pretty cool.

here's some more input – i realize now that the stadium station is just ridiculously close to the atlantic ave. stop. initially, trains were supposed to stop there only for trains, but they made it into a full-service stop.
and wrongly so, in my opinion. there is really no need to have every train stop there. maybe once an hour, tops.

It doesn't really matter. It takes 5 minutes to cross Broad Street anyhow. The operator can probably see that the light just turned out of his/her favor, so a stop there would not hurt.

Though I have never been on or seen a LRV blow past the stadium station... so maybe they did make it a full service stop.

I have also never seen a LRV not have to stop at the Broad Street crossing near Broad Street Station. For whatever reason this crossing seems to take the longest of all.

Among many other points covered by NJT's Joe North at NJ-ARP's annual meeting Oct. 7, the Broad Street crossing was certainly one of them.

In North's view, the crossing is a major stumbling block to be addressed in reducing running times on the Newark Light Rail segment, currently averaging 9 minutes in one direction, 8 minutes the other. "That's better than it's been, but not good enough," North said.

How much would grade separation over or under Broad Street cost? That would be the ideal solution, but it is probably very expensive.

M&Eman wrote:How much would grade separation over or under Broad Street cost? That would be the ideal solution, but it is probably very expensive.

HAHAHA. Sorry for laughing. But, that is quite funny.

I realize that you are saying "what if"... but for NJT to submit a proposal for $100 million (my guess) to fix a problem with a light rail line just built 3 months ago... now thats funny.

A couple of comments -- I've only ridden the line 5 or 10 times, so I don't have a whole lot of knowledge, but I do know that running times improved since opening day (first time I rode).

The thing about the Broad Street crossing is not that it makes the running time 9 mins... the problem is that it seems like 5 of those minutes are spent at the one crossing... you feel like "I'm almost there" and then SIT and SIT at that light. Turn it green, cross the train, and get traffic moving again... what is that, 15-30 seconds? No big deal.

I suspect the reason that the trains all make the Stadium stop is to allow people who are trying to get on a bus northbound to avoid sitting at the road crossing for 5 mins as their bus passes by.

ryanov wrote:...Turn it green, cross the train, and get traffic moving again... what is that, 15-30 seconds? No big deal.
I suspect the reason that the trains all make the Stadium stop is to allow people who are trying to get on a bus northbound to avoid sitting at the road crossing for 5 mins as their bus passes by.

good point on the light, i never really got that. it seems that the light waits for the "green wave" on broad to be over before changing. hey, what happened to public transit getting priority? as soon as the LRV hits the light, go to yellow for 5 seconds or so (long enough that people get used to it), then red, and get the LRV across the street!

and my main problem with the stadium station is just that it's so ridiculously close to atlantic ave...i mean seriously, it takes about a minute to walk between the two stations.