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I work with someone who commutes from the Poconos by bus. She leaves her house at 3:30 a.m. Another guy was living up there but after he had his child, he and his wife decided to move back to Queens because he hardly saw his daughter. But, I know a few others who live in the Poconos and commute to Jersey City or New York.
Insanity.
I have never bought the whole "commute to NYC (or even eastern NJ) from PA! It's great!" thing. It sounds miserable. I mean, I commute 13 miles from my house to my destination in Staten Island door to door and sometimes it takes me over an hour. I live in Union County…
I have never bought the whole "commute to NYC (or even eastern NJ) from PA! It's great!" thing. It sounds miserable. I mean, I commute 13 miles from my house to my destination in Staten Island door to door and sometimes it takes me over an hour. I live in Union County…
Tell me about it. I commute from Monmouth County to Jersey City. 45 miles. By train (meaning, leave house, drive to station, catch NJ Transit train, switch at Newark to PATH, get off at Exchange Place and walk a block to office...) it takes me an hour and a half if all goes smoothly. It takes less than an hour to drive IF I leave early enough (say by 6:15 a.m.), but then I'm paying more for tolls and parking, plus gas.
Our headquarters is in Manhattan near Union Square, and on days when I have to attend meetings there (twice this past week, sometimes more, sometimes less), it's a two-hour commute.
I think a train to Scranton would be unnecessary. Its not a significant city and its too far out from NYC to be cost effective.
They should expand service on the Montclair/Boonton line. No weekend service is garbage for places like Little Falls, Lincoln Park, Wayne, Boonton, etc. They are not very far from the city, why not offer a train on the weekend?
Tell me about it. I commute from Monmouth County to Jersey City. 45 miles. By train (meaning, leave house, drive to station, catch NJ Transit train, switch at Newark to PATH, get off at Exchange Place and walk a block to office...) it takes me an hour and a half if all goes smoothly. It takes less than an hour to drive IF I leave early enough (say by 6:15 a.m.), but then I'm paying more for tolls and parking, plus gas.
Our headquarters is in Manhattan near Union Square, and on days when I have to attend meetings there (twice this past week, sometimes more, sometimes less), it's a two-hour commute.
Exactly. It's nuts how long a commute into NYC for NJ residents can be just because NYC is mostly on islands, or at least that's what I blame it on. There are only so many tracks, bridges, and tunnels. I seriously could not even imagine what it would be like to commute from PA. I think it's craziness and there is no need for a train to Scranton… how random.
Also, trains go both ways (obviously). It's not like NJT's only responsibility is to get New Jerseyans to New York City. It gets New Jerseyans to other parts of New Jersey and New Yorkers to New Jersey, like for a Jets or Giants game, or a NY Red Bulls Game in Harrison, for example. Or a concert at Prudential Center. In all honesty, who from NJ is going to be going to Scranton or other stops along the line in PA and why? I could see it could be useful for college kids going to and from Scranton but otherwise… it kind of seems like it's for those in PA to get to NYC and back. We're serving them and them only, you know? Maybe I'm wrong on that, though. I've admitted I don't know much about that area in PA but it's not like I have tons of friends who hang out in Scranton on weekends.
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Originally Posted by GiantRutgersfan
I think a train to Scranton would be unnecessary. Its not a significant city and its too far out from NYC to be cost effective.
They should expand service on the Montclair/Boonton line. No weekend service is garbage for places like Little Falls, Lincoln Park, Wayne, Boonton, etc. They are not very far from the city, why not offer a train on the weekend?
Exactly. It's nuts how long a commute into NYC for NJ residents can be just because NYC is mostly on islands, or at least that's what I blame it on. There are only so many tracks, bridges, and tunnels. I seriously could not even imagine what it would be like to commute from PA. I think it's craziness and there is no need for a train to Scranton… how random.
Also, trains go both ways (obviously). It's not like NJT's only responsibility is to get New Jerseyans to New York City. It gets New Jerseyans to other parts of New Jersey and New Yorkers to New Jersey, like for a Jets or Giants game, or a NY Red Bulls Game in Harrison, for example. Or a concert at Prudential Center. In all honesty, who from NJ is going to be going to Scranton or other stops along the line in PA and why? I could see it could be useful for college kids going to and from Scranton but otherwise… it kind of seems like it's for those in PA to get to NYC and back. We're serving them and them only, you know? Maybe I'm wrong on that, though. I've admitted I don't know much about that area in PA but it's not like I have tons of friends who hang out in Scranton on weekends.
Agreed!
My poor brother-in-law had a consulting job in Scranton for a year and half. They lived in North Brunswick at the time, so he stayed in Scranton during the week and came home on weekends. He hated it. He was a black businessman in his 50s at the time and really didn't feel as if he blended in there.
More rail service would help NJ. Might get those northeast pa communters to nyc off nj roads. I've seen the rail cars rusting at the steamtown mall. Its depressing that they are being utilized and rotting away. Scranton also a university there. i'm kids would love to go to nyc on weekends.
I also think rail service should extend to the lehigh valley. You have the university, casino and airport there.
I also think they should push with the r3 station in west trenton and connect it with the raritan valley line. It gives an alternative to the northeast corridor. I feel hoboken is underutilized. I wouldn't mind a one seat ride to hoboken on some njtransit lines. Don't like switching at secausus junction.
They also need to tear down madison square garden and rebuild penn station. Also, another set of tunnels.
I personally think the PA extension is ridiculous. People from out there will be looking probably at 2 hour train rides at best and I don't see how that's desirable. I mean when I take the train direct into NYC I go from Linden which is only 3-4 stops from NYP and it takes about 40 minutes. I couldn't imagine being further west in NJ let alone PA, I would have no desire to get on a train. I think NJT's best bet is to work with NY on adding tunnels or more tracks through tunnels to Penn Station so more lines can be direct all the time (like Raritan Valley for example). I would love to see more tracks/tunnels because the current system is too small IMO. I think that's much more worth it than the Lackawanna thing. I think that is a waste, and I'm honestly not sure how much those from PA would use it given the time it will take to make it to the city, or Newark if the plan is to have them switch trains at Newark Penn - which means adding a bit more travel time. I've read a bit about it on the PA forum, just as a lurker, and most people on both NJ and PA sides don't seem on board for a few reasons.
Having Amtrak run service on the line would make a lot more sense then having NJT run it when it is completed. Worth Amtrak there can be limited stops. NJ Transit should not be running trains all the way Scranton, PA.
More rail service would help NJ. Might get those northeast pa communters to nyc off nj roads.
The bottlenecks to NYC are the tunnels to NYC and the Portal Bridge. Until those are upgraded, there is no point in adding even more NYC commute traffic from the west. And a commute from NEPA to NYC is insane no matter how you do ot.
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I also think they should push with the r3 station in west trenton and connect it with the raritan valley line. It gives an alternative to the northeast corridor. I feel hoboken is underutilized. I wouldn't mind a one seat ride to hoboken on some njtransit lines. Don't like switching at secausus junction.
The West Trenton line never went to Hoboken, so there's no ROW to there. And the route to Jersey City is long gone as well.
More rail service would help NJ. Might get those northeast pa communters to nyc off nj roads. I've seen the rail cars rusting at the steamtown mall. Its depressing that they are being utilized and rotting away. Scranton also a university there. i'm kids would love to go to nyc on weekends.
I also think rail service should extend to the lehigh valley. You have the university, casino and airport there.
I also think they should push with the r3 station in west trenton and connect it with the raritan valley line. It gives an alternative to the northeast corridor. I feel hoboken is underutilized. I wouldn't mind a one seat ride to hoboken on some njtransit lines. Don't like switching at secausus junction.
They also need to tear down madison square garden and rebuild penn station. Also, another set of tunnels.
It is not the head house/station that is the problem with Penn Station. Quite simply there isn't any more room for tracks and what are their were laid out long ago for PRR's specific uses.
Unlike Grand Central Terminal which sits on the vast New York Central's rail yards, NYP is a station; trains come in from the east, discharge passengers then go out to Queens or come in from Long Island/Queens to the west and discharge then continue to the Hudson rail yards.
Main problem with NYP is the same as it was during the days the old station stood; it was not designed properly for passenger traffic flow. All those stairs leading down to platforms slows things down. In contrast GCT was done differently and is why even today it handles vast numbers of persons easily. Grand Central uses gently sloping ramps to platforms which means passengers and their associated luggage or whatever else can move easily.
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