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I heard many times that daily commute from NJ to the city is painful with frequent delays. Commuting from Westchester is more or less reliable. What about commuting on LIRR from Long Island? (from towns with good schools, reasonably close to the city like Great Neck or Roslyn). Can anyone compare LI with NJ or Westchester commute? Is LIRR more similar to NJ trains, as both go through Penn station? Thanks!!
I vote for Westchester being the better commute. Before I married and moved to Long Island, I used to commute to midtown Manhattan from an ex-boyfriend’s house in Rye, NY. Metro North was fast and not as many delays. The tracks seemed smoother too, the seats slightly more spacious. I always found a parking spot at the station or within a reasonable walking distance to the station.
LIRR can have more delays due to signal problems, and lots of track problems depending on the specific line (best line is Port Washington due to no changing at Jamaica, followed by Babylon..worst is Oyster Bay). Evening rush hour also stinks as trains leave from different tracks so you cant always predict where to wait when your train comes in. Finding parking at stations is a struggle even w resident parking stickers because the lots are small. Grand Central is a nicer station than Penn which has a tiny waiting room resembling a homeless shelter...so yes...my vote goes to Metro North over LIRR any day.
NJ trains are much worse by far than LIRR. More delays, less frequency nights and weekends. At least with the LIRR, you could take the subway to Atlantic terminal and maybe get a train home from there or take the subway into Queens and find your way home via bus or LIRR from there. With NJ, there's no subway. Maybe you can take PATH, NY waterways, or a bus from PABT if you get stuck and then find your way home. When the NJ trains get stuck, they mess up the LIRR at Penn Station sometimes.
I vote for Westchester being the better commute. Before I married and moved to Long Island, I used to commute to midtown Manhattan from an ex-boyfriend’s house in Rye, NY. Metro North was fast and not as many delays. The tracks seemed smoother too, the seats slightly more spacious. I always found a parking spot at the station or within a reasonable walking distance to the station.
LIRR can have more delays due to signal problems, and lots of track problems depending on the specific line (best line is Port Washington due to no changing at Jamaica, followed by Babylon..worst is Oyster Bay). Evening rush hour also stinks as trains leave from different tracks so you cant always predict where to wait when your train comes in. Finding parking at stations is a struggle even w resident parking stickers because the lots are small. Grand Central is a nicer station than Penn which has a tiny waiting room resembling a homeless shelter...so yes...my vote goes to Metro North over LIRR any day.
I was going to say that the Port Jeff line is worse than Oyster Bay and by on time performance it is...but Ronkonkoma was even worse with < 80% on time...and that’s using the LIRR’s metrics of on time being up to 5:59 late.
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