njt/mnrrbuff wrote:First, in order to provide express service from outlying areas, NJT needs to expand capacity closer to the city(i.e. Gateway Project(more of an Amtrak project), adding triple track to key parts of the NJT owned system(M&E all the way to Summit but that's tough because past Millburn, the tracks not only have a sharp grade and sloping space). On the Coastline, it would have been nice to have it triple track to at least Aberdeen-Matawan Station and this would permit for more express service. Taking a local train to the beach is a painfully slow ride, even with the spacing between stops between Woodbridge and Long Branch. Unless if you are taking an express train, and you live close enough to a major hub closer to NYC, you might as well just drive to the beach.
Let me make this general statement about traveling by NJT to any station along the Montclair-Boonton Line west of Montclair State University. The bus is more convenient and even in little or no traffic, it is faster. If you live in Wayne, there are a million bus options. You aren't waiting more than 30 minutes during most of the day for a bus at the Willowbrook Mall P&R Lot, even on weekends. If you live in the Lincoln Park area, Lakeland runs plenty of buses and the ride isn't that slow. You could also drive a few miles east to Willowbrook for NJT buses. While NJT might open up with the speed a little bit in Morris County on the Montclair-Boonton Line, in the end, the bus wins. Many Montclair-Boonton Line trains that originate in Morris and Warren County make local stops on the electrified territory. Those local trains can take forever, especially if you are starting your trip in Morris County. If you work in Downtown Newark, it's not that bad.
You couldn't be anymore wrong about Wayne. I happen to live in Wayne have lived here for 10 years... I know every shortcut, the exact time to just about every train station for the fastest time to NY. I do it at least once a week. With neighbors who do it everyday. They HATE the BUS. and always said if the train ran more than 3 times a day and didn't stop 35 times in Montclair they would take it in a heartbeat. That parking lot fills up by 8:30am everyday. So the ridership is there... A lot of angry ridership...
The commute towards the city Monday-Saturday is horrendous. 7am-10am 3pm-8pm. 46 to 3 doesn't move, it takes an hour to get thru that 3-4 mile stretch.. almost ALL the time... Then you have more problems on Route 3 in the morning thru Clifton, and then again with the Rt.17 merge. Then there is the glorious Lincoln Tunnel WHICH AT ANY POINT of the day can have a delay... I once sat there for 2 hours on a Sunday on the bus almost missing a basketball game that I spent hundreds on... (vowed and have not taken the bus when I had a time constraint EVER again) I've sat in the tunnel at 11pm on a Sunday night for an hour. So to say that the bus is quicker is really only true at 5AM on a weekday.... And the bus itself after 10am goes to Willowbrook first which takes about 10 minutes from the time you leave Rt23 to the time your back on 46 so it's really 40 minutes with no traffic.. The buses that originate on the 194 and 197 are always 10 minutes late since they travel so far... so then it's 50 minutes (as the schedule goes) sometimes without any traffic...
Keep the train time to 45 minutes or less and it's a winner.. NYP-BRD is 20. BRD to MSU is 15 (maybe have one stop at Walnut or Watchung) and another 10 to Wayne...
For starters they can extend some trains out to Lincoln Park. They have an active switch they can use if needed. If not Lincoln Park, Rt.23. It's only 10 minutes to MSU, maybe 12 to the switch past MSU towards MH since you need to be on the east track to access past the yard... Little Falls sees its fair share of ridership.. Wayne does okay as well. It's west of there where it dives off... It can be done, but like someone else said there is ZERO political pressure here to have it done and the NIMBYS of Montclair also doesn't help... Anywhere else this would've been done years ago...
I enjoy Wayne for what it's worth but the train situation is going to be the reason I move soon and look elsewhere....