Direct Newark-Penn to Hoboken Service

[Nicholas Chen]

I know that today the only services today from Newark Penn to Hoboken directly are a handful of NJCL trains on weekdays only and an early morning RVL, also on weekdays only. However, as a child (a younger one anyway) I remember going to Bound Brook every Sunday and hearing announcements for trains to Hoboken. My questions are: why (and when) did they stop these trains on the weekends, why are there so few trains on weekdays, and have there ever been any trains on the NEC line direct to Hoboken?

[njtmnrrbuff]

Low ridership on the NJT trains. The majority of the travel needs on NJT east of NWK Penn Station are geared towed those traveling to Midtown Manhattan. The Path trains satisfy the needs for those people who want to travel from NWK or the immediate area to Jersey City and Hoboken. In fact, taking the Path from NWK-HOB takes 24 minutes verses taking NJT from NWK to Hoboken which takes 22 minutes. Not a big difference. On weekdays, there are more commuters who use NJT when they travel to their jobs in Jersey City's financial district. On weekends, the average person traveling from NWK to Hoboken and Jersey City is probably doing it for tourism, visiting, and other pleasure reasons.

[mrsam]

I do not remember the exact timeframe, but it was somewhere in the 1990s -- there used to be "diesel express"es that indeed operated on the NEC line into Hoboken.

[timz]

The Trenton "Diesel Express" was one way-- outbound I think. Think the public timetable showed it originating in Newark, not Hoboken.

[ThirdRail7]

The Trenton "Diesel Express" was one way-- outbound I think. Think the public timetable showed it originating in Newark, not Hoboken.

When the train was inaugurated, it originated in Newark as it turned in Hudson yard. When the Waterfront Connection was completed, the train originated in Hoboken. There were two of them but only the first one ran to Trenton five days a week throughout the year. On Fridays, the second one originated at Hoboken and became a seashore express train. It ran express from Newark to Red Bank, skipped Little Silver and then ran local.

As previously noted, they operated westbound only.

The Raritan Valley trains had an every other train to Hoboken pattern in the 90s. I still think some trains should go to Hoboken. I find the argument that more people use Penn Station to be a bit circular. If Hoboken had more service, more people would be likely to use it.

[Nicholas Chen]

I remember then still running to Hoboken in 2005 or 2006 because there's no way I went railfanning in the 90s - I wasn't born yet!

[CNJGeep]

The trains stopped going to Hoboken, on the weekends at least, in May of 2008.

[timz]

In 1995-97 the Diesel Express ran Hoboken to Trenton and Trenton to Newark. Around 1998 it became the Newark Express both ways-- no more Hoboken, and maybe no more diesel.

[Zeke]

During the era of direct Raritan line weekend service to Hoboken, ridership never amounted to more than 20 -30 people at most during the day and as low as 5 people on the late night trains. The riders that discovered the service loved at as they didn't have to mingle with the trouble makers on the late night PATH trains. The bean counters at NJT finally slashed the service.

[n2cbo]

I used to take the ferry to HOB and then the NJCL from HOB to Middletown back when I worked at 140 West St. That way I didn't have to fight the crowds for a seat at NWK.