New Haven Line: one-seat ride to Secaucus for football games

Crain's:

By: Anne Michaud
Published: June 5, 2007 - 12:31 pm

Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chief Executive Elliot "Lee" Sander demonstrated his love of the game today by announcing a promotional inter-agency transit ticket to New York Giants and Jets football games during the 2009 season.

Passengers on Metro North, the Long Island Rail Road, subways and city buses will be able to transfer to New Jersey Transit trains using a single ticket for the journey to the New Jersey Meadowlands Sports Complex, Mr. Sander said. The pilot program is intended to signal that the MTA is headed toward more regional and "seamless" thinking in transit, Mr. Sander told a Crain's breakfast audience.

Another facet of the pilot is to offer Metro North's New Haven line customers a trip to the New Jersey games, crossing straight through New York without changing trains. Shuttle buses would meet passengers in Secaucus to take them to the Meadowlands. The service will be available up to 10 times during the 2009 Jets and Giants season.

MTA Press Release:

MTA Moves Toward Seamless Regional Transportation Network
Regional Trains and Ticketing to Meadowlands in 2009;
Agency Exploring Centralized Call Center Similar to 311

To explore a more seamless system, Sander announced two new initiatives:

Regional Train and Ticketing to Meadowlands
One-Seat Regional Ride: MTA, along with the LIRR and Metro-North, is working with Amtrak, NJ Transit and the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority on launching a pilot interoperability project. Under this bold interagency experiment, set to begin in the summer of 2009, Metro-North's New Haven line customers will have rail access to approximately 10 Giants and Jets football games. The service will provide a one-seat ride from the New Haven Line to Secaucus, where riders would pick up an easy transfer to special NJ Transit shuttle trains to and from the New Jersey Meadowlands Sports Complex.

Joint Ticketing: In addition, all Metro-North, LIRR and NYC Transit riders would be able to transfer to these and other football trains at Penn Station, using a single ticket for the entire journey. This is the first time that a single ticket has allowed travel across MTA commuter rails, subways and buses, and NJ Transit trains.

"Our hope is that this pilot will lead to projects that are induced by other kinds of travel patterns, such as new commuting to work patterns which we will see more of as the population grows," Sander said.

So since the M-8 cars will not be capable of providing the described service (if I understand correctly), an Amtrak electric locomotive and someone's coaches would need to be used?

[Entire articles may not be cut and paste to this forum. -ov]

Amtrak locomotive and Amtrak coaches? Not being a wise guy but for special trains, couldn't MN could just lease Amtrak trains for this? That would get around the voltage differences.

"As new population and employment centers emerge, public transportation riders need to be able to access information across systems and travel as if the entire region was on a unified network," Sander said. "The vision is to integrate our transportation network with others so that customers can have a seamless journey between states and across transportation systems using different modes of travel."

This doesn't mean a one-seat ride, maybe a one-ticket ride, but not one-seat. MNRR trains are not going into LI, NYP, or Jersey. Instead of having to go through different agencies to get from one place to another, just buy one ticket valid over multiple systems. The problems with having that one-seat ride have been clearly discussed here again and again.

I don't about you guys but it would be really nice to be able to get a ticket from old greenwich to freeport ( Jones beach)

or the other idea
Harlum valley wingdale to old greenwich on one ticket

thoughts

rcervel wrote:

"As new population and employment centers emerge, public transportation riders need to be able to access information across systems and travel as if the entire region was on a unified network," Sander said. "The vision is to integrate our transportation network with others so that customers can have a seamless journey between states and across transportation systems using different modes of travel."

This doesn't mean a one-seat ride, maybe a one-ticket ride, but not one-seat. MNRR trains are not going into LI, NYP, or Jersey. Instead of having to go through different agencies to get from one place to another, just buy one ticket valid over multiple systems. The problems with having that one-seat ride have been clearly discussed here again and again.

rcervel wrote:

"As new population and employment centers emerge, public transportation riders need to be able to access information across systems and travel as if the entire region was on a unified network," Sander said. "The vision is to integrate our transportation network with others so that customers can have a seamless journey between states and across transportation systems using different modes of travel."

This doesn't mean a one-seat ride, maybe a one-ticket ride, but not one-seat. MNRR trains are not going into LI, NYP, or Jersey. Instead of having to go through different agencies to get from one place to another, just buy one ticket valid over multiple systems. The problems with having that one-seat ride have been clearly discussed here again and again.

I'm confused by what you are saying. If you read what I posted, it clearly says that they are working to have a train make stops along the New Haven line and then travel all the way to Secaucus Transfer. I don't think they would have made that announcement (and give a date: 2009) if it wasn't technically feasible in some way.

Well, since the cat's out of the bag....

It's all still very much in the conceptual stage, but the idea is to use NJT equipment, running from New Haven to Secaucus. One trip down in the AM, one trip back after the game. There are all sorts of ugly wrinkles that have to be worked out, but that's the scenario.

Jim

cool more territory to qualify, increasing my earnings

Ai caramba! Full NJT consists? (If I may ask a stupid question).

[For Dutch:] Eh, just CP 216 to Penn (you'll step off and an NJT crew will take it from there), but hey, what's new is new, right?

[Fred:] Um, yeah - we ain't lookin to mix and match...this is going to be hard enough to pull off as it is...no need to make it that much more difficult....

Jim

Thanks Jim, I understand what you mean.

Erie-Lackawanna wrote:the idea is to use NJT equipment, running from New Haven to Secaucus.

Thanks for answering the equipment question. So an ALP-44/44M/46 hauling comets (or MLs if feasible). Will make for some GREAT photo opportunities!

For some reason, I have it in my mind that the thinking was MUs (Arrows). But I could be wrong on that.

Jim

chance to ride some unusal trains and photos as well

Erie-Lackawanna wrote:For some reason, I have it in my mind that the thinking was MUs (Arrows). But I could be wrong on that.

Jim

Oh. I looked into it some more and I see that I was mistaken - the Arrow III cars can make this trip as well. Thanks.

I will believe it when the first NJT train arrives in New Rochelle. ;-)

-otto-