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.

I once emailed NJT as to why the Montclair train always seemed to have to stop in its tracks to allow other trains, not just Amtrak trains to go by. The Amtrak right-of-way is another topic that I don't want to get into this second, other than stating if we're paying NJT and NJT is paying Amtrak for the right to use the tracks there needs to be some sort of re-agreement on who has the right of way. Anyway, as for when the Montclair train is always giving way to other NJT trains...The NJT email explained that the reason why the Montclair train always has to sit and wait for other trains is that the right of way is determined by which train left earlier. The trains that pass by my train in the morning must have left their initial station earlier than mine and coming from further away they now get the right to make my train idle on the tracks. So if this is truly the case, then why is it that when the Montclair train leaves Penn Station NY before other trains depart Penn, we stgill have to give way to other NJ Transit trains coming in from behind us? These trains fully left out of NY after my train and here we are sitting on the tracks waiting for other trains to pass us by??? Can't we have a service where once the train is in motion it continues on its path until it reaches it's destination? Enough with the stopping and going!

Morrise & Essex vs Montclair-Booton

The # of trains into and out of NYC and Hoboken is uneven! If we look at the # of riders and the # of trains, there's an uneven distribution heavily advantageous to Hoboken! With more commuters going into and out of NY and less to Hoboken, there should be more trains at more oportune times going in and out of NY and not Hoboken!

No Options

Here’s a typical situation. I’m in NY Penn Station and there are delays and train issues with all NJ Transit. My train is not due to leave for 20 minutes. What do I do? Maybe I can get to Secaucus or Newark on a different train out of New York and then catch a train from Hoboken. WRONG! There are no other trains that a Montclair destined rider can take to get them to Newark Broad Street in order to catch a Montclair train from Hoboken. There are trains that will obviously take riders from New York to Secaucus, but then there are not Montclair trains out of Hoboken which stop there. Riders would have to hop a train from Secaucus into Hoboken and from Hoboken ho a train to Montclair. Look at a schedule and see how long that would take. There are plenty of trains one can catch out of New York to get to Secaucus, but that doesn’t do us any good. From Secaucus there are no other trains to catch which would further our commute home until we can board a Montclair bound train. I guess one could take a train to Newark Penn Station and then ride the Light Rail over to Newark Broad Street to catch a Montclair train from Hoboken. Oh wait, by the time one does that, they might as well as waited around and just got on the Montclair train out of New York. There isn’t even a Gladstone or alternative train which Montclair riders can hop on between Montclair trains. Why can’t the Gladstone trains out of Penn Station stop at Broad Street?

I have scoured the train line schedules, light rail, path, and buses to see if there is a possibility of an alternative way home, if by some slight chance it might even be faster. NOPE. It's a dead end any which way you try to go. 25 miles west of New York, the greatest city int he world as some tout, and a commute that's not easy or short by any means...

The Longest Express

Skipping one station stop does not make a train an Express!

Getting from point A to point B considerably faster than the typical train is an express. Why isn’t there truly an express train and why aren't there any Express trains after 8pm out of NY for the Montclair Booton Line?

How about an express train that goes straight from New York to Bloomfield or maybe a train that skips every other station stop or multiple express trains which skip every other stop with alternating stations? Why not a train like the one from Hoboken which goes directly to Bay Street?

Any train after 8pm at night should not take over forty minutes to go from New York to Montclair. Montclair is only 25 miles West of New York. Come on and be real. This is not rocket science. We need real express trains during off peak hours and we need faster overall trains during peak hours!

As for the so called Express train in the morning, it's actually a longer ride than the train before or after it. On average I'd say 3 if not 4 out of the 5 days of the week it is delayed and never in NY on time.

Escape from New York

All of the evening trains are at off times. People who leave work at 5pm have to wait until 5:45pm to catch a train, which leaves 45 minutes of travel time between one’s office and Penn Station. Those who leave work at 530pm have to wait until 6:18pm, which leaves 48 minutes of travel time between one’s office and Penn Station.

It’s safe to say that no one needs more than 25 to 30 minutes to get to Penn Station. Therefore, a schedule whereby trains leave at 5:30pm and 6:00pm would really be more ideal.

Let’s look at it another way. Someone leaves work at 5pm, takes the 545pm train and travels 45 minutes into Montclair. Say a modest 10 minute walk or drive back to their house and if the train left on time and actually arrived on time that commuter just spent nearly 2 hours getting home. That's ridiculous!

Early Bird Catches the Train

Back when I first started taking this line (from Watchung Ave.) there was a 7:14am train that was supposed to get you into New York around 8am. Schedule changes have since moved this train earlier and earlier to the point that it now arrives at Watchung Ave. 6:54am. The next train into New York does not arrive until 7:35am. There is a forty minute gap where there is no train into New York. The 6:54am train is too early and the forty minute gap is too large of a span to not have another train directly into New York.

I wouldn't mind hoping a Hoboken train if I didn't have to pay an aidditional fee to then ride the PATH into New York. Like an agreement between NJT and Port Authority for the PATH would ever happen. That would just make too much sense.

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?