Hoboken would still have off-peak demand, the question is would NJT be smart enough to keep satisfying it - go down between 6 and 9PM on Thursday/Friday/Saturday and you'd think it was rush hour. Hoboken is the place for a night of drinking and partying. Send those trains direct to NYC and those customers (and their tax revenue) go to NYC instead. The only reason this developed is because there is no direct to NYC service and the trains have to turn somewhere [along with the cheaper fare]; a happy accident that is fragile enough to break with one wrong schedule choice (like, "lets make HOB weekend service a shuttle!").
Wingnut wrote:The closest parallels would be LIRR's Atlantic Terminal and Jamaica. Are those ghost towns? No. One is used mostly as a transfer facility and the other is a quicker way to reach Lower Manhattan. Hoboken will be fine as a lesser used but still important station. Harder to keep relevant in the future will be Secaucus which has no PATH or subway connections. Yes, development there is being contemplated but environmental obstacles will probably limit what can be done there.Not Long Island City? That is the most parallel to Hoboken; a waterfront terminal on the East River with connection to one subway line. There is, though, no connecting light rail line at LIC like there is at Hoboken.
I'm just not understanding that loop arrangement. What's keeping New York bound trains from turning left after departing lower level Secaucus and merging with the NEC that way?
Secaucus is quite relevant as a connecting stop for intra-Jersey rail service; NJT would never suddenly try to run the equivalent of the Bergen Shore Xpress to replace that transfer station in any way. The fare structure would need to be revised, however.
There will never, ever be a one-seat ride for all NYC-area commuter trains from NJ into Manhattan any more than all trains on LIRR and Metro-North will operate all the way into Manhattan, however.