New Schedules on NJT

NJT should look to abolish Long Branch as crew center and rail yard, moving everything BACK to Bay Head. This would actually save some money! Hoboken trains from Long Branch instead of Bay Head make little sense.

I am interested to see what equipment is used on different trains - multi level cars, single levels, motive power etc. - with the new one seat ride to NYP AND Hoboken trains starting from Long Branch. Many Hoboken trains carried a lot of passengers from Newark to south of Long Branch on a one seat ride.

More one seat rides from NYP to Bay Head would be good.....Utilize the dual modes....

I am not sure if the multi levels necessarily have to go around the Bay Head loop with new switches added near Bay Head. That was typically the issue for multilevels. I think the one seat ride from Bay Head (south of Long Branch) to NYP is going to be popular once again. The shift of Hoboken trains is going to be interesting and could lead to their demise altogether.

jp1822 wrote:NJT should look to abolish Long Branch as crew center and rail yard, moving everything BACK to Bay Head. This would actually save some money!

How would it save money? Please provide me with details. Seems to me trains would have to start earlier out of Bay Head rather then Long Branch which means crews signing up earlier, then trains would finish later in Bay Head rather then Long Branch which means crews finishing later then they normally do. Maybe you could help me out with how you think it would save money.

jp1822 wrote:Many Hoboken trains carried a lot of passengers from Newark to south of Long Branch on a one seat ride.

Newark passengers will simply board a train coming from NYP instead of Hoboken for the one seat ride south of Long Branch. Newark passengers only see minor changes, its the passengers out of Hoboken going south of Long Branch that will have to change in Newark or Long Branch.

Does New Jersey Transit intentionally try to screw over riders by not making transfers between NEC and River Line convenient?

Ie, on Saturdays, the NEC arrives in Trenton at 10:44 AM
The River Line departs to Camden.... at 10:44 AM. It is a 5 minute walk between platforms, making the transfer impossible.

They can't even pull the clock-face excuse with a train that departs every 30 minutes at :14 and :44

Was no thought put into this kind of scheduling?

On the way back, the final River Line train pulls into Trenton at 1:06am.
But the last northbound NEC train leaves Trenton at 1:00am!

They have to be screwing with riders on purpose right?

jamesinclair wrote:Does New Jersey Transit intentionally try to screw over riders by not making transfers between NEC and River Line convenient?

Ie, on Saturdays, the NEC arrives in Trenton at 10:44 AM
The River Line departs to Camden.... at 10:44 AM. It is a 5 minute walk between platforms, making the transfer impossible.

They can't even pull the clock-face excuse with a train that departs every 30 minutes at :14 and :44

Was no thought put into this kind of scheduling?

On the way back, the final River Line train pulls into Trenton at 1:06am.
But the last northbound NEC train leaves Trenton at 1:00am!

They have to be screwing with riders on purpose right?

Part of NJT's (or Gov. Christie's) never-ending attempt to discourage transit ridership and encourage driving.

srock1028 wrote:

jp1822 wrote:NJT should look to abolish Long Branch as crew center and rail yard, moving everything BACK to Bay Head. This would actually save some money!

How would it save money? Please provide me with details. Seems to me trains would have to start earlier out of Bay Head rather then Long Branch which means crews signing up earlier, then trains would finish later in Bay Head rather then Long Branch which means crews finishing later then they normally do. Maybe you could help me out with how you think it would save money.

Absolutely crews and trains would have to start earlier, but the NJCL doesn't have that much down time in general.

I am looking at it from having one less crew base being maintained - consolidating yard infrastructure and crew base supervision at a single yard approximately 20 miles railroad west of Long Branch (i.e. Bay Head).

Current storage tracks at Long Branch wouldn't need to be maintained.

Physical crew facility at Long Branch wouldn't need to be maintained.

MOW equipment moved to Bay Head etc. - not that all that much is at Long Branch or even the small yard at Red Bank.

Looking at long-term. Some initial investment at Bay Head needed, depending on what the objectives of upgrading Borne interlocking just east of Bay Head station were leading to.

Will NIMBY's at Bay Head come out to play again - likely. Are there enough dual modes to handle full run to NYP and Hoboken - not sure. Does South Amboy bear some of the weight? I also remember days of when E-60s and diesels ran together south of South Amboy........

Instead of South Amboy, Long Branch AND Bay Head on the North Jersey Coast Line, you consolidate at Bay Head - once again. Same number of crews needed - potentially more if ridership can grow, but the crew base infrastructure is consolidated at Bay Head.

Are Multilevels expected to run the length of the NJCL? What needs to be done to make that happen? The loop track at Bay Head - compared to years ago is not getting the usage it once got. But there are still a lot of tracks down there and a more expansive yard facility than Long Branch.

Personally, I think Hoboken service from Bay Head/Long Branch will disappear. With one-seat ride from Bay Head to NYP this opens a LOT of possibilities once again south of Long Branch.

Could some trains be turned in push-pull fashion at Long Branch - like a few are at Matawan - sure. But overall, could the thrust of Long Branch operations be moved to Bay Head - once again? The cost of "turning" a train at Matawan is low.

And they are operating the dual modes to Bay Head - NYP with multilevels. Typically 8 in the consist.......nice to have multilevels back south(west) of Long Branch!!!!

Any ancedotes on NJCL ridership with the new one-seat rides NYP-BH and the HOB-LB runs? Especially wondering about the latter...and if this is the beginning of the end of HOB service on the NJCL.

mlc482 wrote:Any ancedotes on NJCL ridership with the new one-seat rides NYP-BH and the HOB-LB runs? Especially wondering about the latter...and if this is the beginning of the end of HOB service on the NJCL.

My friend said NYP-BH trains are packed. LB-HOB arent that packed, but it is said a fair amount of people ride them

srock1028 wrote:

jamesinclair wrote:

srock1028 wrote:

jamesinclair wrote:Sigh, the 1 hour gap northbound from NB during evening rush hour is still there.

5:29pm and then 6:30pm.

Yes and I believe you and I had private messages about this. Until the project is completed, this is how things have to be. One of four tracks is closed in one of the busiest sections of the railroad.

Yup we did, Im just hopeful that the schedule gets fixed sooner rather than later.

Understood, hopefully Amtrak's project will finish as scheduled then!

Are we talking about the schedule got from New Brunswick eastbound? It has been there for many years. What does that have to do with recent track work?

It is disappointing to me that New Jersey transit messed with the 2300 series trains. Why would it not have been possible to extend trains that already come from New York, rather than messing with the trains that came from Hoboken?

ryanov wrote:It is disappointing to me that New Jersey transit messed with the 2300 series trains. Why would it not have been possible to extend trains that already come from New York, rather than messing with the trains that came from Hoboken?

I'm thinking crewing costs?? Extending trains that already came from New York to Bay Head would extend the crew hours on duty.
It also would change how the equipment turned if trains that normally terminated in Long Branch were then extended to Bay Head.
Those are just two of my guesses on why things were done the way they are. As always, I could be wrong!

See the current (May 9 through June 20) weekend schedule for the Coast Line here. It's not in the May 17th timetable.
http://www.njtransit.com/sa/sa_servlet. ... entId=9792" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

philipmartin wrote:See the current (May 9 through June 20) weekend schedule for the Coast Line here. It's not in the May 17th timetable.
http://www.njtransit.com/sa/sa_servlet. ... entId=9792" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Actually yes they are, check the weekend panel in the paper timetables, trains that run June 21st to September 12th are highlighted to stand out.

srock1028 wrote:

philipmartin wrote:See the current (May 9 through June 20) weekend schedule for the Coast Line here. It's not in the May 17th timetable.
http://www.njtransit.com/sa/sa_servlet. ... entId=9792" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Actually yes they are, check the weekend panel in the paper timetables, trains that run June 21st to September 12th are highlighted to stand out.

Thanks for pointing that out. I'll be able to do my job a little better.

I have been SHOCKED at the increase since the schedule change at some parking lot of train stations south of Long Branch. I've also been watching some of the NY to Bay Head through trains in the evening and there is a LOT more ridership coming off these trains than there was before. It's great to see this positive restoration of service. I think one more round trip should be added - or rather a current train extended. I know a few local businesses that share space with NJT parking and they are already starting to project displeasure with parking space (it's getting full). Marking their turf is becoming important!

The Long Branch to Hoboken trains just make absolutely no sense. I assume these are electric propelled trains (ALP46's). It's all "wired" up between Long Branch and Hoboken. Again, these trains could easily run out of Bay Head to Hoboken - under diesel power! The dual modes are operating shuttle trains south of Long Branch, so they are certainly getting their mileage now!

I am curious though as to how fuelling gets done since Bay Head no longer has the fuel pad - which it SHOULD! Bay Head also doesn't have a "pit track" right? For some reason it does look like one track has sort of a low spot where workers could look at the undercarriage of a train. But nothing enclosed......

I see the shuttle trains are using the loop - but what about the trains with the multilevels? I know this was an issue for them to go around the loop - or perhaps that was just a rumor...........