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I keep hearing how late and slow and delayed NJ Transit is. We are debating moving to Millburn/Maplewood (or Glen Ridge). But after hearing all these stories I’m getting concerned about my potential commute.
On work days, I need to catch (for example) a NJ Direct train from Maplewood at 730am, arriving at NY Penn at 8am, and transfer to an Amtrak that departs (going North) at 830am. So my question is, how far behind schedule does the NJ Direct run? Would this be a risky transfer that I would miss regularly?
I think the more important question is, where are you commuting to that you need to catch an Amtrak train? Is this going to be every day? That sounds like a very long and expensive commute. Will you be doing the same commute in reverse to get home? Why would you want to live in Millburn or Maplewood and not somewhere that offers a more reasonable commute?
I think the more important question is, where are you commuting to that you need to catch an Amtrak train? Is this going to be every day? That sounds like a very long and expensive commute. Will you be doing the same commute in reverse to get home? Why would you want to live in Millburn or Maplewood and not somewhere that offers a more reasonable commute?
Yeah, I wondered that, too, but I figured the OP must know what s/he is doing.
Why not just take Amtrack from Newark Penn (or Metropark)?
Taking two trains on a daily basis sounds wacky.
That said, you have 30 minutes of leeway in your connection. While there will be times when you'll be late, you'll rarely miss that connection. And if you are late, it's likely that Amtrak will be late as well.
I'm on the next train (which is 8:05 from South Orange) and while being 10 minutes late is fairly normal, being a full 30 minutes late is a relative rarity. (And if things are that bad, odds are Amtrak is screwed up too.)
My partner works in south jersey (driving) so we needed a mid point (with decent schools and a direct connection to midtown). But I only need to do my Amtrak commute twice a week for about 6 months a year.
Why not just take Amtrack from Newark Penn (or Metropark)?
Taking two trains on a daily basis sounds wacky.
That said, you have 30 minutes of leeway in your connection. While there will be times when you'll be late, you'll rarely miss that connection. And if you are late, it's likely that Amtrak will be late as well.
I'm on the next train (which is 8:05 from South Orange) and while being 10 minutes late is fairly normal, being a full 30 minutes late is a relative rarity. (And if things are that bad, odds are Amtrak is screwed up too.)
I did consider catching from Newark penn but when I looked at the drive in the morning from millburn to the station the traffic looked unpredictable so I thought I might end up missing the train a lot (unless I leave super early or maybe if I take an Uber to avoid parking)
The M&E (the line from Maplewood) isn't late that often in the morning (at least at the moment), but they do cancel trains entirely fairly regularly. I don't know how often that one gets canceled.
You're probably better off in a town with a connection to Newark Penn where you can catch the Amtrak train before the usual delay sources, unless your Amtrak train originates at NY Penn.
When NJ Transit have issues it ranges from 8-20mins late avg. I say the arrival time is about 80% on-time.
If you want to avoid having issues, move to an area that has more than one line or trains. Having a Local + Express train beats having delays.
My main gripe with NJ Transit is that they keep changing schedules and often removal important time slots.
There used to be a 15min gap during rush hour schedules, then it got moved to 20min and now it's 30mins. So if you missed a train, you have to wait 30mins. If that train is delayed, you are looking at 45min+ wait.
That is why people in congress, the republicans and democrats in the house should stop playing games and start working with Trump to pass infrastructure bills. Enough with the phony Russian collisions and going after each other for finance issues. Start fixing our crumbling infrastructure.
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