The Raritan Valley Line Thread…

The amount of actual single-tracking on the weekends in the Hudson Tunnel is extremely minimal, so minimal other than when an advisory is posted about it which is like 3 times a year it doesn't happen. This has been like this for the last AT least 5 years if not closer to 10 years. I think they do more single tracking at the Hackensack River Drawbridge than they do in the tunnels these days. There is zero excuses they cannot add a train bi-hourly. Amtrak runs more trains on Sundays 10 more Acelas pass thru. If you needed to make it only Saturday's with these so called restrictions you certainly could.



When SEC was constructed this was an ongoing thing that regularly occurred at the time and then everyone got to lazy to change or do anything about it.

There may be a freight railroad strike on Friday. Conrail listed as a member of the NCCC, the group of carriers collectively bargaining with the freight unions. As I understand it, the intermediate section of the RVL between the ex-CNJ and the NEC is Conrail-owned and -dispatched territory. Has NJT announced any contingency plans?

WhartonAndNorthern wrote: ↑Wed Sep 14, 2022 9:42 am There may be a freight railroad strike on Friday. Conrail listed as a member of the NCCC, the group of carriers collectively bargaining with the freight unions. As I understand it, the intermediate section of the RVL between the ex-CNJ and the NEC is Conrail-owned and -dispatched territory. Has NJT announced any contingency plans?

"“We have been working closely with Conrail and have assurances that they will have mitigation measures in place at the appropriate areas on the Raritan Valley Line and the Atlantic City Rail Line to ensure there are no impacts,” NJ Transit said in a statement." https://www.politico.com/news/2022/09/1 ... n-00056685

Ken W2KB wrote: ↑Wed Sep 14, 2022 2:15 pm

WhartonAndNorthern wrote: ↑Wed Sep 14, 2022 9:42 am There may be a freight railroad strike on Friday. Conrail listed as a member of the NCCC, the group of carriers collectively bargaining with the freight unions. As I understand it, the intermediate section of the RVL between the ex-CNJ and the NEC is Conrail-owned and -dispatched territory. Has NJT announced any contingency plans?

"“We have been working closely with Conrail and have assurances that they will have mitigation measures in place at the appropriate areas on the Raritan Valley Line and the Atlantic City Rail Line to ensure there are no impacts,” NJ Transit said in a statement." https://www.politico.com/news/2022/09/1 ... n-00056685

Good to know!

They should restore the last direct train to NY which used to leave Cranford at 10:30 on weeknights. In addition, it would help if the schedule from Newark was more forgiving, but NJT's definition of rush hour ends right at 7pm so only hourly service is available afterwards. Or if instead of :12 past the hour, something closer to :30 past the hour will help. Transfers add a lot of time when traveling and :12 is not convenient so the train is not a viable option most times. It's a shame the Waterfront Connection is also pretty much dead.

F40 wrote: ↑Sat Oct 29, 2022 12:21 pm It's a shame the Waterfront Connection is also pretty much dead.

May 2008 cuts basically killed off-peak Waterfront service, including weekend RVL Hoboken service.

Most riders want direct service to Midtown, not Hoboken, which is more like a Mon-Fri terminal for Lower
Manhattan now with only Main/Bergen/PVL and limited Montclair service on weekends. This trend really
took off since SEC opened.

If most riders wanted Midtown, PATH would be out of business.

The development boom of Hoboken and Jersey City may mitigate that

amtrakowitz wrote: ↑Mon Oct 31, 2022 7:55 pm If most riders wanted Midtown, PATH would be out of business.

PATH provides a cross platform connection at Newark and doesn't require braving a ferry in the middle of a rainstorm.

It also goes to Midtown.

Are the ferries really that bad?

I mean, they are certainly much more susceptible to bad weather than a covered subway car that is in a tunnel. On a nice sunny day they are great, but otherwise? Depends on your definition of "that bad" I guess.

The ferry to Wall St. does not run from Hoboken between 9.50 and 3.25 or after 6.55 pm. Roughly 2 ferries/hour. The ferry to Midtown is even less frequent. The only ferry with decent headways and coverage is the one to Brookfield Pl.

Compare this to PATH's 5-minute headways to WTC. It's not even close.

lensovet wrote: ↑Sun Nov 06, 2022 11:15 pm

amtrakowitz wrote: ↑Mon Oct 31, 2022 7:55 pm If most riders wanted Midtown, PATH would be out of business.

PATH provides a cross platform connection at Newark and doesn't require braving a ferry in the middle of a rainstorm.

It also goes to Midtown.

With a change, sadly. All Newark PATH trains are for WTC, in normal operation.

Hoboken isn't a complete nothing place. There are jobs there, tons more in JC - a population boom in both, and onward PATH, light rail and ferries. It's also a popular entertainment area.

And frankly, it's somewhere to send any additional frequencies until the tunnels are quadded - so it's definitely underused. It has track capacity too. Anyone for WTC and Penn can of course jump off at Newark Penn, but it still has a draw.

Maybe if the waterfront connection was on the map, and offered 1tph on each route (say 1 Trenton, 1 South Amboy, 1 Raritan) - which would also offer 3tph from Newark (and 2tph from likely Rahway and Elizabeth) - then it might see better utilization. If it's not frequent, not marketed and not displayed, it may as well not exist for average users.

@cle Haven’t some businesses been moving to Jersey City from NYC?

cle wrote: ↑Wed Nov 23, 2022 3:30 pm

lensovet wrote: ↑Sun Nov 06, 2022 11:15 pm

amtrakowitz wrote: ↑Mon Oct 31, 2022 7:55 pm If most riders wanted Midtown, PATH would be out of business.

PATH provides a cross platform connection at Newark and doesn't require braving a ferry in the middle of a rainstorm.

It also goes to Midtown.

With a change, sadly. All Newark PATH trains are for WTC, in normal operation.

Hoboken isn't a complete nothing place. There are jobs there, tons more in JC - a population boom in both, and onward PATH, light rail and ferries. It's also a popular entertainment area.

And frankly, it's somewhere to send any additional frequencies until the tunnels are quadded - so it's definitely underused. It has track capacity too. Anyone for WTC and Penn can of course jump off at Newark Penn, but it still has a draw.

Maybe if the waterfront connection was on the map, and offered 1tph on each route (say 1 Trenton, 1 South Amboy, 1 Raritan) - which would also offer 3tph from Newark (and 2tph from likely Rahway and Elizabeth) - then it might see better utilization. If it's not frequent, not marketed and not displayed, it may as well not exist for average users.

As seen in the comic /show Ms Marvel, JC is a populated area , again.