Railroad Forums
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EuroStar wrote:Some of us like to live our lives under the "dont be an a$$hole" mantra.
Given that NJT did not contribute a single dollar to the concourse, why would it be any different? NY State is not going to pay for NJT facilities.
jamesinclair wrote:Considering it would cost them next to zero to add the existing NJ Transit feed to their screens, not doing so does indeed make them a$$holes.I agree with you for the most part: NJT should have at least offered to pay $200k or something like that to get departure boards and TVMs in there. As for NY State, it is very hard to stand in front of voters and explain to them why you are spending money on out-of-staters. Not that there are not good reasons to do so (all taxes paid by NJ residents working in NY), but even with those reasons the screaming would have been there. The proper thing to do was probably for NJT to offer to pay something so as to provide cover for the politicians while the feeds were added anyway.
Never mind NJ Transit not budging a finger to help their passengers use the new entrance.
EuroStar wrote:I assume because tracks 1-4 are inaccessible from the concourse, NJT figures it's not a viable departure area and won't recommend passengers use it for departures.jamesinclair wrote:Considering it would cost them next to zero to add the existing NJ Transit feed to their screens, not doing so does indeed make them a$$holes.I agree with you for the most part: NJT should have at least offered to pay $200k or something like that to get departure boards and TVMs in there. As for NY State, it is very hard to stand in front of voters and explain to them why you are spending money on out-of-staters. Not that there are not good reasons to do so (all taxes paid by NJ residents working in NY), but even with those reasons the screaming would have been there. The proper thing to do was probably for NJT to offer to pay something so as to provide cover for the politicians while the feeds were added anyway.
Never mind NJ Transit not budging a finger to help their passengers use the new entrance.
SecaucusJunction wrote:I walked through there this weekend. If you want to hang out there and hope the train arrives on one of those tracks, you definitely can. Once the track is posted on Departurevision, you can easily walk to tracks 1-4, if necessary. That will also be enormously helpful if you want to hang out in the new station area (if and when it is built) but still catch your NJT train.It's a pretty long walk to get to tracks 1-4 though from there. I think if you know ahead of time that you're on track 5 or higher it's very useful.
JamesRR wrote:It's a pretty long walk to get to tracks 1-4 though from there. I think if you know ahead of time that you're on track 5 or higher it's very useful.Even if the train is on tracks 1-4, one can walk down one of the stairs, say to track 5, walk along the platform, up another set of stairs and then again down to platforms for tracks 1-4. Going around is not only long, but one needs to "fight" the crowds jamming the rest of the station. To avoid crowds, I suggest using a platform that has no trains announced on the screens -- that guarantees that it will be empty -- trying to walk the platform while another train is boarding passengers is no fun.
Tommy Meehan wrote:I don't think this has been posted anywhere else, but the person who began this thread, Philip Martin -- known to a generation of railroaders as 'Pots 'n Pans' -- just passed away. I heard about this just now. Apparently his funeral service was today. Phil Martin had an amazing 60 year career in the rail industry. I think he began as a tower operator with the Pennsylvania Railroad and wound up as a station agent with NJ Transit. I know he worked at Metuchen for quite a while and I believe his last assignment was at Middletown NJ on the North Jersey Coast Line.Oh my, sad to hear that. He must really have loved the RR - working as long as he did. I enjoyed all the flavorful detail in his posts about way back when.
I traded messages with Phil here numerous times, some of which led to discussions that continued off-list as well. I always found him to be congenial and gentlemanly, as well as an amazing source of rail knowledge and history. God Bless You Phil!
