NJCL - more trains / EXPRESSES / HOB-BH service !!

If the express trains ran last Sunday, how was the ridership count?

I will be on the 8:10 out of Newark Penn Station tomorrow. I'm sure that the trains will do very well with ridership tomorrow and for the rest of the season. I will be on the last express train heading back to New York tomorrow evening.

So what's the good plan for tomorrow morning? Deadhead some equipment all the way down to Bay Head so they can run a 4am empty express train equipment move back to Penn for the real train to run back at 8:00am? Then have the train stop at Secaucus for nobody waiting because the connection doesn't arrive for another 5 minutes after it leaves? Then have the "express" train make a bunch of stops on the way to Long Branch before the beach points? Then have the people walk almost a mile to get to the beach once the 2 hour long train ride is over. Then repeat this disastrous process week in and week out until Labor Day using up a whole bunch of grants that were meant to alleviate congestion but really leave out much of the state they're supposed to serve?

SecaucusJunction wrote:... Then have the people walk almost a mile to get to the beach once the 2 hour long train ride is over. ...

There are jitney shuttles for those incapable of making that *terrible* HALF-mile trek from Long Branch to the beach down Morris Ave. Especially after sitting on a train for 2 hours. Brutal.
You can also get a ride from Asbury Park station.

http://www.ezride.org/10-0-shore.asp

I take the train down from Middletown to pick up my pay advices in Long Branch, (we dont get pay checks at my station,) and like to walk to the beach to see the ocean; and then walk back to the station to get the next eastbound train home. I have to walk fast.
It's a little hard to imagine a lot of people walking those narrow sidewalks.

That's good... So then tomorrow night they can run 2 late night trains to the shore well after the times when anybody would actually ride them only to go back Sunday morning empty back to Penn. So 50% of the trains ride basically empty and the remaining 50% skip out on a good part of the state. Way to go NJT. The only organization who could screw up a great idea of trying to get people to the shore quicker.

I'm on the very first westbound express and it's fairly crowded right now.

njt/mnrrbuff wrote:I'm on the very first westbound express and it's fairly crowded right now.

Is that train running with multi-levels?

Does anyone have any pictures of the train set?

The first train this morning was all single level equipment.

Here is a shot of the train crossing the Raritan River bridge with 4518 shoving:
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=487363

Rob

Erie Limited wrote:The first train this morning was all single level equipment.

Here is a shot of the train crossing the Raritan River bridge with 4518 shoving:
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=487363

Rob

Good picture! What are the cars advertising, Vodka? I've seen cars like that on one of the Hoboken trains all week, advertising some kind of liqueur which I didn't catch. The Alp should have the advertising too.

Are multilevels still prohibited from operating to Bay Head?

Did they have all cars open?

Matt Johnson wrote:Are multilevels still prohibited from operating to Bay Head?

Yes.

Since when were multilevels prohibited in Bay Head? I could've sworn I rode one from Spring Lake to Point Beach a few years ago.

philipmartin wrote:

Erie Limited wrote:The first train this morning was all single level equipment.

Here is a shot of the train crossing the Raritan River bridge with 4518 shoving:
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=487363

Rob

Good picture! What are the cars advertising, Vodka? I've seen cars like that on one of the Hoboken trains all week, advertising some kind of liqueur which I didn't catch. The Alp should have the advertising too.

Thanks! The advertising on the cars was for Captain Morgan rum.

Erie Limited wrote: Thanks! The advertising on the cars was for Captain Morgan rum.

I'll have to get some.
If multilevels are prohibited west of Long Branch, what's the reason?

Personal note: I rode the Erie Limited from Jersey City to Chicago in 1954.