After the first of four weeks of temporary schedules on New Jersey Transit’s (NJT’s) rail lines due to the cutover from the old Portal Bridge to the new Portal North Bridge over the Hackensack River, it appears that the operation went well, except for the first two days. We reported on Jan. 16 that the change was coming, and that different schedules would be in effect for a four-week period while the agency and Amtrak run a single-track operation on the segment of Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor (NEC) between Newark Penn Station and Secaucus Junction Station.
At that time, we reported on NJT’s view: “‘We understand that this work will disrupt the way our customers travel during the cutover period, which is why every element of our service plan was designed to keep people moving as safely and efficiently as possible,’ [President and CEO Kris] Kolluri said. ‘While the disruption is temporary, the benefits, including a far more reliable and resilient commute along the Northeast Corridor, will last for generations.’”
The biggest change affects riders on the Morris & Essex (M&E), Montclair, and Gladstone lines, all of which trace their heritage back to the Lackawanna Railroad and are now owned by NJT. In effect, the agency revived an operation for all trains on those lines that was in effect before June 10, 1996. At that time, it initiated Midtown Direct service, over a new track connection between the M&E and New York Penn Station that allowed M&E and other trains to go directly to Midtown Manhattan for the first time. In addition to the New York trains, most Gladstone trains, some Montclair trains and some M&E trains (via Morristown) still serve Hoboken at the historic terminal where connections are available to other NJT rail lines, several bus lines, PATH trains, and ferries to Manhattan on weekdays. The big change is that all trains on those lines now run to or from Hoboken and passengers bound to or from Midtown must change at Hoboken for the duration. Transfers are available for PATH trains, New York Waterway’s Midtown ferry, and NJT’s #126 bus to the Port Authority Bus Terminal. NJT tickets reading “Hoboken” are also valid for the segment to or from Manhattan. That gives passengers a break on the fares, because New York fares are higher than Hoboken fares from the same points of origin. Trains on the M&E still run directly to or from Penn Station on weekends with hourly service, but the schedule is different from the customary one.
There are also some temporary service cuts on NJT lines that go through Newark Penn Station, and Amtrak implemented its own reductions, most notably many Keystone Corridor trains to Harrisburg that previously originated at New York now run only from Philadelphia and vice-versa. Still, the biggest change is that longtime M&E riders are getting a taste of the ride that they customarily took until 30 years ago, while others are dealing with a new inconvenience. That is the length of time required to travel between New Jersey and Manhattan, which varies with the connecting transit mode.
Rocky Starting Weekend
On Saturday, February 14, the agency ran its normal weekend schedule. Sunday the 15th was the first day of the new schedule, with similar levels of service, but with trains running at different times to accommodate the single-tracking. It was not a good day on the railroad, with 89 alerts from the agency, 46 of which concerned M&E or Montclair trains, mostly in the afternoon and evening. Monday, February 16 was a holiday, with essentially the weekend schedule and a few additional trains, such as a “mini-peak” on the M&E and other lines that would soon be diverted to Hoboken on weekdays. It was also not a good day on the railroad, with 74 alerts, although many of them were on NEC trains between Trenton and New York. The M&E operation ran more smoothly on Monday than it had the day before.
Larry Higgs reported for NJ Advance Media that the agency had cancelled 27 trains that Sunday: “NJ Transit officials issued an apology to riders after cancelling 27 trains Sunday on the first day of a month-long rail service reduction to put one track of the new Portal Bridge in service. Most trains were canceled Sunday morning, with a few canceled in the afternoon, according to NJ Transit alerts.” Those alerts blamed “originally scheduled crew availability at the time of departure” for the trains that did not run. Higgs also reported: “In an apology to riders posted on X and Facebook, NJ Transit officials blamed the cancellations on the contractual process locomotive engineers use to select new assignments which happens when rail schedules change. This time, the issue is all schedules of all engineers, trainmen and conductors have to be changed for the cutover, said NJ Transit CEO Kris Kolluri.”
According to Higgs, engineers and conductors have 48 hours prior to a schedule change to pick their new assignments, but the schedules currently in effect represent a sweeping change that affects essentially the entire railroad. Only the Atlantic City Rail Line, which runs between that city and Philadelphia, is not affected by the change. Higgs reported: “Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen union officials said they offered to start the assignment selection process early.”
A Better Week
NJ Transit started somewhat tentatively on Tuesday morning but did better as the week went on. This writer took three trips from to New York that week, starting with a one-way trip on Tuesday morning. It took 45 minutes, about 15 minutes longer than under the “normal” schedule, to get from South Orange to Hoboken. While there is enough capacity at Hoboken and on the segment of the railroad that approaches the terminal, that capacity is only used under special circumstances, rather than under normal operation. Employees, including managers and customer service agents, were out in force to help riders get oriented on the first day of the return to what some riders remembered as the way they traveled until 1996, and which other riders would not remember at all. The object was to get to Penn Station using the ferry and a connecting shuttle bus, both of which are operated by NY Waterway. The operation was time-consuming, and it took one hour longer to get to Penn Station than it would have taken under the normal schedule.
My Thursday afternoon trip included a PATH train from Hoboken. One turnstile on the PATH platform at Hoboken was used for NJT’s “cross-honoring” and an employee was there to keep a count of customers who used it. PATH ran the regular weekday schedule, and it felt somewhat nostalgic to recreate the two-seat ride that many passengers had taken thirty years ago or more. On the way back, an employee checked for “cross-honoring” at the 33d Street PATH station (which is located at 32d Street now), and the late-afternoon train to Hoboken was crowded, as they were “back in the day.” Taking PATH and changing at Hoboken adds about 20 minutes to the one-way trip, but riders appeared to take the longer travel time in stride. A mitigating factor was that all trains on the schedule originate at Hoboken during the alternate service period: both trains that customarily originate at Hoboken and trains that normally originate at New York Penn Station but are diverted to Hoboken for the month.
While PATH trains and the #126 bus run full spans of service, the ferries between Hoboken and NY Waterway’s midtown terminal run only during peak-commuting hours on weekdays. Despite the limited schedule, the ferry company offers an interesting connection to go elsewhere in Manhattan, and I tried in on Friday. Along with the ferry ride, NY Waterway includes a shuttle bus that makes city bus stops between the ferry terminal and the East Side (and also serving most of the West Side).
Most of the shuttle routes go to the East Side of Midtown, on 57th Street, 49th and 50th Streets, 42d Street, and a route that makes a wider loop. That one goes east on 34th Street, south on Third Avenue, west on 23d Street, and north on Seventh Avenue before, taking 34th Street west to the terminal. The fifth route proceeds downtown along the waterfront to Pier 11, near Wall St., in the Financial District.
I chose the 57th Street route. It got me to the end of the line at 57th Street and Lexington Avenue in a mere 16 minutes, apparently a result of the Congestion Pricing toll that began last year for vehicles traveling in Midtown Manhattan or south of there. Coming back took significantly longer, due in large part to just missing the shuttle bus and then missing a boat at the ferry terminal. The boat ride was quicker than the one the previous Tuesday. It was the next-to-last run of the “evening peak” to Hoboken Terminal, and there were only a few passengers on board at that time.
While the route can be tricky, especially for the uninitiated, I did not find many reports of problems. There were only a few alerts on the NJT website, and employees seemed pleased with the way things were going with the operation, even though their opinions, albeit knowledgeable, were unofficial. After getting used to the operation on Tuesday, it appeared that the employees and the riders both got the hang of it, and it appeared to go smoothly for the rest of the week. At this writing, it has 14 days to go.
Also at this writing (Monday, Feb. 23), NJ Transit is not running any trains at all. A severe blizzard pounded much of the Mid-Atlantic region severely for almost 24 hours, beginning on Sunday afternoon, and knocked out most of the area’s transit, but that’s a different story. NJ Transit ran a “Presidents’ Day” schedule on Tuesday; the weekend schedule with a few extra trains at peak commuting periods, and the entire temporary Hoboken-based weekday schedule on Wednesday.
