NJT Plan during Amtrak Summer 2017 Repair Work

Mostly affects weekday Midtown Direct runs of the Morris & Essex Lines...

http://www.njtransit.com/sa/sa_servlet. ... iceId=2501" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Why is the Midtyown Direct on the Montclair/Boonton Line continuing to & from Penn Station.

This means that Midtown Direct riders from the Morris & Essex Lines on weekdays that want to go to Penn Station will have to transfer at Newark Broad ST station.

braves wrote:Why is the Midtyown Direct on the Montclair/Boonton Line continuing to & from Penn Station.

I suspect that since the Montclair/Boonton runs are more infrequent than the M&E, going direct to Penn Station might not cause too much of bottleneck...we hope.

This means that Midtown Direct riders from the Morris & Essex Lines on weekdays that want to go to Penn Station will have to transfer at Newark Broad ST station.

Well, they are offering a pretty good discount for monthly pass holders during this period. Obviously, it's inconvenient, but management is trying...I think...

Are they going to create a special schedule for Hoboken service or just try to run all the normal trains plus all the MD trains? They tried the latter on April and the terminal really couldn't handle it.

This is a really shameful message that NJT has sent to their customers.

"NJ TRANSIT rail customers have been forced to deal with delays, derailments and unreliable service because Amtrak, which owns the tracks our service relies upon, has neglected the maintenance of its critical infrastructure for years. For three-quarters of NJ TRANSIT rail customers travel patterns will not be modified, including the Trenton to New York Northeast Corridor Line. However, delays on all rail lines, except for the Atlantic City Rail line, are inevitable."

That is some low down garbage. As if either agency is sitting on piles of money. I complained to customer service and I suggest you do the same.

As far as equipment manipulation, how will that go? I mean some of the Midtown direct trains use equipment from Sunnyside and Long Branch for midday runs. I would think that would be more difficult bringing them over or transfering them to Hoboken to cover the former NY-Dover runs... Im surprised none of the existing Hoboken trains will be annulled during the summer detours.

blockline4180 wrote:As far as equipment manipulation, how will that go? I mean some of the Midtown direct trains use equipment from Sunnyside and Long Branch for midday runs. I would think that would be more difficult bringing them over or transfering them to Hoboken to cover the former NY-Dover runs... Im surprised none of the existing Hoboken trains will be annulled during the summer detours.

If I had to guess.....the MSU-NYP trains are for that exact purpose. NOT to throw the M&E folks an olive branch.

I wonder if the Montclair trains will be overwhelmed with Morristown/Gladstone Line people hoping to transfer at Newark.

mohawkrailfan wrote:I wonder if the Montclair trains will be overwhelmed with Morristown/Gladstone Line people hoping to transfer at Newark.

Probably will, at least during the morning rush...
I still think NJT hasn't thought this whole thing through.. Why did they have to eliminate ALL the Dover Midtown direct trains?? If need be, they should have eliminated 75%, not all, but I guess that directive came from the "esteemed" governors office!!

There's been very little done to move some of the NJCL or Raritan services to Harrison Yard or the Waterfront Connection to Hoboken.
Was that Gov Christie's way to stick it to Amtrak? Seems like the "Midtown Directs" reroutes was the only action taken.
Hopefully the next elected Gov in NJ can "mend the fences" with Amtrak and properly fund NJT from the get-go.

There is no point in touching the Raritan service into Penn. It runs off peak when there will be enough track space even during the construction period.
The shore line could not be rerouted because the Waterfront connection is one track only. Every westbound train needs to cross the NEC tracks and that is a problem. One day the Waterfront connection might acquire the appropriate flyover to avoid the conflict, but that will be no earlier than the quad tracking of Newark-NYP.
That left Montclair and the M&E as the only reroute options (NEC is the busiest, so cutting that one is out of question). Of the two, the first choice to reroute based on the lower ridership is Montclair, but they probably discovered that doing so does not remove enough trains during peak hour. At that point the choices were to either do the reroute of the M&E or a combination of reroutings on both lines while keeping some service to Penn on both lines. Operationally rerouting all trains on one line is simpler (think train set turns, crew turns, etc.). And then the governor's office came with the dumb idea of cutting fares 50% plus free transfers. That is the only way to ensure that NJT loses another $25 million in revenue and cuts even more maintenance on the tracks, signals and equipment. But that deferred maintenance will show in a few years and this governor will be gone by then. It will be someone else's problem.

While I feel for the commuting pain of everyone who will have to go through Hoboken, most of the commuters on the M&E are quite well off and do not really need the fare cut. The cheaper fare to Hoboken compared to NYP plus the free transfer to PATH/ferry should have been enough and would have resulted in much smaller loss of revenue. And that revenue is unfortunately money that matters a lot to NJT.

I really don't think Hoboken can handle all of its normal trains plus the Midtown Directs. They tried it in April and trains had to sit in the meadowlands for 20 or 40 minutes.

There are 3-car Arrow trains on the Gladstone Line during rush hour, in both directions. I'd consolidate those with some long MLV trains, at least.

mohawkrailfan wrote:I really don't think Hoboken can handle all of its normal trains plus the Midtown Directs. They tried it in April and trains had to sit in the meadowlands for 20 or 40 minutes.

There are 3-car Arrow trains on the Gladstone Line during rush hour, in both directions. I'd consolidate those with some long MLV trains, at least.

If there is a train handling problem, its just lack of competence, and prob all the new work rules, etc. Back in the good old times, HOB handled trains for the Northern, Carlton Hill, Newark, Orange, Caldwell, Sussex and Greenwood lake branches, along with everything that operates now. And no push pull. All the diesel trains had to back out of the terminal on to the yard tracks. And the terminal tower had no track board. You had to know where all the switches and signals were.

More details:
http://www.njtransit.com/tm/tm_servlet. ... SE_ID=3143" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

No Waterfront Connection service.
Montclair-Boonton Midtown Direct will not stop at NBS during peak hours.
Midday and evening M&E Midtown Direct trains will also be diverted to HOB.

There is one train that makes no sense whatsoever.

Train #4306/ 2606.
A rider from Monmouth County will now have to take THREE trains to get to Penn Station.
Transferring once in Long Branch and then again in Newark.

Doesn't make much sense to me.