Commuting to NYC from Chatham (Summit, Madison: house, buy, place to live)

[emily.barker]

I have 2 questions.
First...for anyone who does the train commute from Chatham, how do they find it? Are there many delays? Is it fairly smooth or painful?
Second - is there a bus that goes into NYC from Chatham. I heard there was but can't find it on the Port Authority website.

[clevedark]

Penn Station would have been included in Dante's Inferno had it existed then.

[metaljaybird]

Train commute was fine for me when I lived in Madison, which is the next stop over. Never tried the bus, though I would imagine it is a terrible commute by auto.

[Eric S]

Try the train from Summit.

-OMS

[Welcome]

Overall it is a very good commute, at least during rush hours. Double-decker trains run often, offer plenty of seats, are climate controlled, and reach NYC Penn Station in 50 minutes, usually on or close to schedule. Of course, real delays can happen now and then. But on the whole the system works, and the monthly pass ($220) is also good for pleasure jaunts on weekends.

The real issue is finding a place to park at the train station. That requires either: (1) a residence in Chatham Borough (not Township), $350 per year, and a stint on the waiting list; or (2) luck securing a metered space at $5 per day. Fortunately there are plenty of nice place to live within easy walking distance of the Chatham station.

Your best bet is to: (a) buy a house in Chatham Borough, (b) put your name on the waiting list for parking, and then (c) walk, cycle, or sweet talk someone into driving you to the Chatham station until your name comes up. By that point you may well find that you enjoy the brief walk to and from the train station.