I'll put my hand up for a high five but then take it down

Okay, so yes NJ Transit creating a train that goes to Giants Stadium/Izod center is a great thing. The fact that it doesn't come or go directly to/from NY Penn Station, not a good thing. The service runs frequently when there are concerts and games which is a good thing. Typical train schedule leaving NY Penn Station and ticketing service are beyond a bad thing. The lines for every machine and window wrap around every corner. How about letting riders for this new service purchase tickets online or have additional staff and areas open to sell tickets. Set up makeshift kiosks. Do something.

Please please please explain to me why on a night when there is a concert or a day when there's a sporting event, not every train leaving NY Penn Station and running through Secaucus is NOT stopping in Secaucus? Instead, you have the same trains that typically stop at Secaucus filled to an unsafe capacity of people trying to get to these events. There's no reason why any train leaving NY that travels through the Secaucus station is not stopping there. It's ridiculous.

It's like NJ Transit thinks half way. They have a good idea and then their execution is poor. Follow through and think big picture.

Is Penn Station Falling Apart?

First the escalator on east side entry/exit way of the 1st and 2nd track has been out of order for over a month now and nothing says a good Thursday commute home like when the NJ Transit TV schedules don't function. I have to wonder how long before the escalator is fixed? I'm guessing probably not before then end of October 2009. As for the TVs - c'mon people. It's not like you didn’t pay the cable bill.

As a commuter for the past decade - nothing surprises me anymore. It's just sad.

Early Broadcast Digital Transition

The broadcast stations switched over to their digital feed on June 12th and the week before the TV Monitors in Penn Station that provide train and track information mysteriously malfunctioned. Could there be a correlation? Is it a conspiracy? I think not!

...Just another example of how things related to the commute with NJ transit go wrong. It's Murphy's Law - Anything that can - does! I really loved how NJT announced (as they often do) that passengers should not stand under the big board in the Amtrak section of Penn Station. Well, it was the only place where the track assignements were functioning. Where else do you expect people to find out where their train's track assignment is posted?

Also, this monitor issue that I'm describing should not be confused with the other issue of their assignments of when a train is On Time, Boarding, Delayed, etc. Completely another topic but how can a train be on time if the track isn't posted within 10 minutes of it due to depart?

Penn Station

Grand Central has a Michael Jordan's Steakhouse. Penn Station has a Houllihan's with cochroaches (I've seen them). GC has the Oyster Bar. Penn Station has sushi take out. GC has high end shops. PS has K-Mart. Grand Central is inviting, full of culture, full of shops and restaurants. It is bustling with commuters and tourists. There's an ambiance to it with an air of familiarity and safety.

It's quite the opposite at Penn Station.

I don't even use the bathroom in the NJ Transit waiting area anymore at Penn station. I don't even use the waiting area since the attack on the woman sitting in there. For those who come in the main entrance on 7th ave know that as you approach the NJ Transit section of Penn Station, you're going to be met by an array of people who I won't describe other than saying they are not commuters.

It's so nice of the Port Authority police to allow these people to mass and stay warm in the winter months, sleeping in various corners throughout the station. I don't feel safe during rush hour let alone later on at night in there. I've worked late a few times and have taken the train home after 9 and Penn Station was crawling with questionable people.

To the NYPD and Port Authority police - please clean up Penn Station. It's almost less inviting than Port Authority these days.

Going Up when Needed to Go Down and Vice Versa

It’s always a doozey when the track is posted and the escalators are all going in the up direction instead of descending.

I Was Walking... (in a Forrest Gump voice)

Almost as bad, but not quite is when they assign an NJ Transit train such as the Midtown Direct to a LIE track double stacked with another train so commuters have to walk the entire stretch of the platform. At that point we might as well as walk through the tunnel ourselves and catch a train on the NJ side of the Hudson. At least if we did that we wouldn’t be prone to disabled trains in the tunnel!

2 for the price of 1

It’s a tight call but even worse is when they put two trains departing nearly the same time on opposite tracks. If it’s not already difficult to get down to a track (because hoards of riders build up while waiting for the train to arrive) it’s only more difficult when multiple sets of riders are descending down to one track platform. Ironically, there are no trains posted on half a dozen of the other tacks and yet they have two trains on the same platform.

Nearly Simultaneous Arrival and Departure

Even better than assigning the train to tracks 5-8 is when they have us departing on a track where a train just arrived on the opposite side. Nothing is easier then when passengers are getting off a train and coming up as you’re trying to get down.

Tracks 5-6 and 7-8

NJ Transit has a good idea of how many people ride each of their lines. They have the info through who’s buying what tickets and passes to where. There’s also the guy with a clicker who is often keeping tabs of rider counts and yet they completely ignore the reality that there are a lot (A LOT) of riders on the Midtown Direct trains and continue put the train on tracks 5 or 6 and 7 or 8 where there are less entries to get down to the platform. It’s like mass pandemonium trying to get down to the track level on these platforms. It’s unsafe and inefficient.

I'm beyond Bored With the Board

How many times have we waited for the track number to be posted as the scroll on the bottom passes by a hundred times noting that tracks will be posted 10 minutes before departure and it’s 5 minutes prior to departure and still no track assignment.

Even better…It’s really great when the departure time has already passed and the status is still Stand By. If it’s 625 and the train was due to leave at 618, then the train is late!

Here’s a thought - if the track isn’t posted 10 minutes before departure, it’s going to be very difficult to get everyone on board and ready to go on time. If the track isn’t posted within 10 minutes from the departure time then the status should be LATE! I also really love it when the departure time has come and gone, the status as Stand By, and there hasn’t been one iota of an announcement about delays or issues.

I Think I'll Hold It

I’m a guy and I’d like to think that I can tough it like the rest. Let’s face it, as boys we pee wherever and whenever we need to. And why? Well, because we’re boys and that’s what boys do. As an adult I guess I’ve become more refined and slightly matured. I’d rather hold it for the hour commute and go when I get home than venture into the men’s room in the NJ Transit waiting area. It’s dirty, it smells, the stalls are usually occupied by the homeless, and it’s not the easiest thing to use a urinal and hold onto a work bag tightly for fear that someone may try to rip it off your shoulder while your back is to the entrance.

Watch Your Back

You certainly don’t find the same type of people at Penn Station as you would at Grand Central. I’m not talking about commuters here. I’m talking about the loiterers! Grand Central is clean, well ventilated, it has a sense of class and nobility, and it has a sense of security. Even when you go into Grand Central for a train at midnight it seems very safe.

Trying to catch a train out of Pen Station at rush hour and there are creatures of all sorts. Deranged and scary, disgustingly filthy, on the floors, in the bathrooms, walking the corridors, inside, outside, and let’s not forget about the instance earlier this year where someone slashed a commuter during the evening rush hour in the NJ Transit waiting area. Penn Station sure is a safe place. I know I know…It’s not NJ Transit’s responsibility to police PS. That falls onto the Port Authority who is doing a wonderful job. Kudos! I feel as safe waiting for a train at 9pm as I would walking down a dark alley at midnight.

Nobody Likes To Be Compared

Trains are rarely in the station far enough in advance for a ‘closed door time prior to departure’ idea to work. Has anyone ever taken a train from Grand Central? Those trains are always there waiting on the tracks sometimes more than 30 minutes before departure. It’s a pleasure to ride Metro North out of Grand Central. Why is it so difficult for NJT?