PVL passing sidings/off-peak trains

I went through Hillsdale yesterday and there was a sign in town stating NJ Transit was increasing service as of October 28. I doubt anyone will really pay attention. I've said it before and I'll say it again... this service will not take off with this few amount of trains running. People need the convenience of at least hourly service so they dont always have to be watching the clock of when they have to catch the train. Couple that with the lack of eastbounds during the evening for people who might want to go to the city and you wont have too many people taking the service.

I beg to differ..the weekend schedule is pretty good and people can take a Saturday evening train into the city if they want to. Yes..the 4pm eastbound is early for weekdays..but maybe they will work at the kinks..maybe another siding will go in in the future

Yes, northjerseybuff, I agree with your statements. In order for there to be a reverse peak eastbound local at the height of the rush hour on the PVL, a siding must be built in the Oradell area. For the time being, depending on what part of the line the customers live on, they will have to find other ways. bus or Main and Bergen County Line.

I think ridership should be decent, but it will take some time for it to grow. While hourly service is definitely desired, this schedule is pretty darn good for something that wasn't there at all before.

northjerseybuff, they definitely have the information about the increased service in the Important Changes section.

For my first time riding, I'm planning on driving to Spring Valley and riding all the way in, eating lunch in Hoboken then heading back.

SJ, just look at the ML/BCL schedule. If you are on the lower ML/BCL you certainly have to watch the clock, since it is not entirely consistent. While I would hardly call the ML/BCL trains crowded, I've seen ridership increase greatly over the years.

How does the PVL service compare to the Gladstone Branch?

The population density is much denser along the PVL higher service levels should be warranted. Given time ridership levels should climb if the new service is aggressively marketed.

Well, I was down at the station for the 12:24 p.m. departure to Hoboken. Didn't get on, but I did speak to the conductor, who mentioned that there were about 12 people on the train already? Pretty impressive for the first day - well, depending on how many of those 12 are from this board.

My friend took this 12:24 p.m. train to connect at Secaucus to the 1:23 p.m. westbound for the 1:38 p.m. to Raritan. The train was approx. 4 minutes late into Secaucus (scheduled 1:16 p.m.). They really should consider pushing the PVL trains slightly earlier so that they can make the :17 westbound transfers. It might affect Spring Valley bound trains, though, missing the from NYP transfers.

(Of course, NJT caring just about NYC travel, I won't hold my breath).

A lot of people that I saw were pretty surprised to see trains running today. I told them to get used to it.

It also looks like they are using full trainsets out of Woodbine. I believe the one that I saw was 5 cars, 5700 leading.

Can someone tell me if I have to setup Saturday & Sunday as two different days on MyTransit? Does the system operate by train numbers or train numbers and day of the week? (e.g., if I want to add train 2103 for Saturday and Sunday, so I just need to enter it for Saturday, and the system will add it both days, since it's the same train number?)

BlockLine_4111 wrote:How does the PVL service compare to the Gladstone Branch?

The population density is much denser along the PVL higher service levels should be warranted. Given time ridership levels should climb if the new service is aggressively marketed.

I am comparing service at Peapack to Nanuet.

They are actually pretty close. After the AM rush, inbound GLAD basically has hourly service until 4:50 p.m., then starting up again hourly at 8:11 p.m. The PVL had inbound hourly starting at 10:30 a.m. (unless you are south of North Hackensack, serviced by train #1652) through 3:50 p.m. - an hour earlier. There is only one late-evening train, at 9:15 p.m.

Outbound weekday service is about an hourly earlier on GLAD and runs a little more frequently, as well.

Weekend service - Gladstone vs. Spring Valley:
Inbound on GLAD is hourly, where on the PVL, it is hourly until 12 noon and bi-hourly through 8:15 p.m. GLAD has additional trains in the 9PM, 10PM and 11PM hours.

Outbound on GLAD is hourly, 8AM to 1AM, with a late night train at 3AM. PVL has bi-hourly 9AM to 3PM, and hourly 4PM to 10PM, with a late night train at 12:30 AM and 1:45AM.

I just got back. I took the 9:51 Main line train from Passaic to connect to the 10:25 at SEC. The 10:25 consisted of a GP40PH-2, MN V, MN, V, NJT V, and MN V. The train did some great business for the first time, although, the conductor opened half of the train. I got off at Pearl River. Andy, I photographed your friends train. I walked over to Montvale, and took the same set to westwood that I came on at SEC. I even walked from Westwood to Oradell, and saw a few people waiting on the platform at Emerson. By the way, the train that pulls into Westwood at 1:11; quite a few people got off. That train consisted of an ex-CNJ GP40, IIs, IVs, and a NJT V cab. That was my train back from Oradell at 2:43, and it did good business. I took it to SEC, where I connected to a NEC train to NWK Penn. Great trip.

BlockLine_4111 wrote:How does the PVL service compare to the Gladstone Branch?

The population density is much denser along the PVL higher service levels should be warranted. Given time ridership levels should climb if the new service is aggressively marketed.

Most of the Pascack Valley Line area has been served by frequently running NYC bound buses over the years. The Gladstone Branch stations have virtually no competition from buses, execept for some limited peak hour service to/from Bernardsville.

Yes, mcmannors, the PVL has a lot of NYC bound buses, along the entire length of the line, especially Westwood where you have Rockland Coaches and NJT. I saw some buses from both companies, and the ridership on them looked good. The train will still do great business though, and it was off to a pretty good one. I will expect better as time goes on though.

Gladstone Branch and PVL are different beasts. PVL will grow to have more ridership I think in time to combat the Gladstone Branch.

I missed the 11.19 departure from Spring Valley by about a minute. I was running late this morning, and if it wasn't for the pretty bad traffic in Spring Valley I would have made it. Oh well. Did see that it was a full Comet V set with a VERY smoky PL42 pushing.

I did make the 12.19 departure, and it seemed to be mostly railfans boarding at Spring Valley (including 7 Train, I think), but we had a pretty decent crowd all the way up to SJ. As mentioned, we were running a little late. I'm not sure where we were losing time, but we did have some delays getting on the Main Line on our approach to Secaucus.

Coming back, it was another full Comet V set, with a GP40 pulling. This was the 2.20 departure. For some reason, NJT did not have any information on the board about what track we'd be departing from. The woman in the ticket booth told me to go to the stationmasters office, which no one was in. Luckily, I saw the train right across with Spring Valley in the destination sign. We were also a little late on the return trip. Passenger load was a little lighter, but still respectable. There were two couples near me where both men were ecstatic about the trip, regaling the tales of passing sidings to their uninterested wives.

Lets see how ridership is in the next few weeks when there arent the railbuffs (and their wives) on the train to make a difference...

aye. I'm probably making my first trip on the line this friday...not too sure though. ill let ya'll know what train I am taking.

with a VERY smoky PL42 pushing.

Those engines smoke more then any other revenue engine type that NJT operates!! I thought they were supposed to have less exhaust?? My train usually has a PL42 every morning and the train sometimes smokes like an old E8 as it accelerates out of Denville.


Back to the PVL line, it looks like I won't get to ride the weekend service until November 10th the earliest.