(The following article by Ron Marsico was posted on the Newark Star-Ledger website on October 13.)
NEWARK, N.J. — NJ Transit will provide several thousand more seats on its morning rush hour trains into Manhattan as expanded service and a revised schedule take effect later this month, officials said yesterday.
In a tradeoff, the current timetables on the Northeast Corridor will change slightly to accommodate five new morning trains on that line into New York City, including two express trains that will replace the Amtrak Clocker service, which is being discontinued, said George Warrington, NJ Transit’s executive director.
“Overall, on the Northeast Corridor, many train times will change by a few minutes,” Warrington said during the agency’s monthly meeting in Newark. “These actions add up to a net increase of 3,000 more seats on New York-bound trains during the peak morning period.”
The changes, which take effect Oct. 30, also include two extra trains that will depart from New York Penn Station during the evening rush hour.
The five new morning trains will result in more seating than the Amtrak Clocker service and include an additional stop at Hamilton. These extra peak-hour trains will accept monthly, weekly and single-trip NJ Transit tickets.
Additionally, the new schedules offer more frequent stops between Jersey Avenue and Metropark. The average morning rush hour waits between trains at the Edison, Metuchen and Metropark stations will be cut from 20 minutes to 12 minutes. At New Brunswick, the waits will be reduced from 17 minutes to 12 minutes.
For Midtown Direct commuters, a new early-morning train will be added to the Montclair-Boonton line. That train will depart from the Montclair State University Station at Little Falls at 4:57 a.m., arriving in New York at 5:40 a.m. In another change, weekend service will be added to the Plauderville Station on 32 Bergen County line trains.
During the holiday season, NJ Transit will add eight Holiday Express trains to and from New York on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays on the Northeast Corridor to reduce travel times and accommodate more passengers.
Holiday Express trains also will be added to the Morris & Essex lines.