NJTRANSIT IS BY FAR THE ABSOLUTE WORST & MOST UNRELIABLE MASS TRANSIT SYSTEM IN THE ENTIRE U.S..ALWAYS HAVE BEEN ALWAYS WILL BE NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES THEY HIKE UP THE FARES
Fun fact: when Secaucus Junction opened, there was virtually no road access since the station was designed to be an interchange station. Over the past several decades, though, a relatively large bus interchange station has been added as well as (privately owned) parking and NJ Turnpike interchange 15X to access the station! Not to mention the large apartment complex that was built next to the station--it has ended up being an excellent example of not just transit-oriented development, but transit-encouraged development, as the surrounding land was pretty much all brownfields before the station was built..
@@Rickyrab Right. "Large apartment complex" and "interchange station" sounds more like Manhattan Transfer (aka Harrison). Secaucus Junction is in the middle of nowhere where most NJ Transit commuters happen to intersect 😅
@@samuelitooooo Secaucus Junction is almost 20 years old at this point...and while it still isn't as busy as most of north Jersey, there's a whole lot more there now than when it first opened, when it literally was in the middle of nowhere.
I heard somewhere that Exit 15X sees the least traffic on the NJTP. It is really close to the main exit to Secaucus, so 15X sees mainly for the station, the industrial area to the west of the station, and that apartment complex.
The only flaw with the Multilevel coaches is the material the windows are made from. Over the years they have fogged and pitted up. If you want a clear view you have to actively seek out a clear window which is becoming harder and harder to find
This is so true. I was on an NJ Transit multilevel coach from Princeton Junction Station to New York Penn. It was basically impossible to get a clear view of the outside. This was July 2021.
I ride the NEC on weekends and although I like the size of the windows in the multi-level, it is so difficult to find one that's not totally dirty on one side (usually opposite to which the train is moving). It drives my OCD crazy!
It served as a union station back in the day when other railroads besides PRR stopped there (Lehigh Valley, Central of NJ, Reading), and it does today with Amtrak and NJT. The name is truly Pennsylvania Station, just like in New York and Baltimore.
@@charlesbaran1106 Correct. To refer to the current name Newark PENN station prevents confusion over the other NEWARK train station, Newark Broad Street station which is also has NJ Transit service.
@@charlesbaran1106 That is not what a Union station is; a Union station is not a station served by multiple railroads. A Union station is technically and officially a station that is jointly owned by multiple railroads, rather than a single railroad. Union stations form when multiple railroads are interested in building a new station in a specific location but no single company wants to bear the sole costs. The railroads will set up a subsidiary company which will own and operate the station. Each interested railroad will themselves own some share of the subsidiary, which are sometimes but not always equal shares. The owning railroads don't need to actually serve the station for it to be a Union station, but they almost always do.
@@Saxshoe As I'd noted, it is named Pennsylvania Station (for its original owner), only having served as a union station. Thanks for the legal clarification.
One nice thing NJ Transit did is to build a rail station at the Meadowlands when the new MetLife Stadium was built. They run a shuttle train service from Secaucus Junction to the stadium on days of events. When I lived on Long Island it made it much easier to get to the stadium rather than driving and paying the exorbitant parking fee.
Amtrak owns part of one other line, its Michigan Line between Chicago and the Detroit area. It owns the stretch between Pine Junction at Chesterton, IN and Battle Creek, MI. Amtrak also has leased the line east of Battle Creek from Norfolk Southern Railway; thus it controls almost the entire length of the former Michigan Central main line between Detroit and Chicago.
If I am not mistaken the area around 11:10 is where they recently upgraded the catenary system (the NEW JERSEY HIGH-SPEED RAIL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM) so that a stretch of track between New Brunswick and Trenton can support speeds of up to 160 mph (~260 kph)
Not quite sure what happened to the ticket vending machines - my friends and I have used Japanese and Chinese credit cards on them before and they worked perfectly well
One reason I dislike the Arrow IIIs vs the newer equipment: on the Northeast Corridor NJ Transit operates at up to 100 mph but the Arrow IIIs have been restricted to 80 mph max for many years, I believe due to the traction motors overheating at higher speeds. Before the 1993 rebuild by ABB, they routinely ran at 100 mph. Before they were rebuilt they had analog speedometers and you could watch the speed in the intermediate unused cabs of the consist. Back in my youth I remember seeing the speedometer at 105 mph between New Brunswick and Princeton Junction.
I used to ride the MARC version of this daily, on the Brunswick line. That single seat truly is the gem - plenty of room, and if you have a long commute and want to nap it is perfect for it.
NJT is certainly one of my favourite US commuter railroads, especially their Bombardier fleet (ALP-45 and 46). They have a very modern and sleek look that will only be rivaled by CalTrain when they get their Stadler KISS units, and perhaps SEPTA and MARC get close with their electric loco-hauled trains. I wish they would introduce regular spacing between train departures though. Running trains at fixed times every hour makes using the service way more convenient as it's easier to remember departures.
Thanks for this video, it was really well done (as usual)! I rode this train each morning to work in the city for many years. I’d ride my bike to downtown Princeton, hop on the dinky train to Princeton Jct., and then proceed to NYC on the NE Corridor.
Great video Thibault. Sorry you had difficulty buying your ticket. I've ridden this NJTransit line many times.....multilevels(upper level) and Arrow Ill's. Always a great experience. 👍👍😄😄💚💚
Ay, thanks for checking out my little state's rail network! I am glad that at least NJ has decent rail service, as a kid I loved these steel beasts, whizzing by. Haven't rode on em in a while, boy do I miss it.
The new catenary runs from Monmouth Junction down a little past Princeton Junction. It is modern constant tension catenary design to allow for 160 mph operation of the next generation Acela aka the Alstom Avelia Liberty, but unlike the New Haven to Boston 25 kV catenary it is still the old voltage.
Great trip report as always. I have used that line to Trenton on many occasions and also the North Jersey Coast Line to Middletown and Redbank when my brother lived in that area. I like those bi-level cars and back the mid 2000s when I travelled on those lines - there was also the ALP-44 locos which looked similar to the retired Amtrak AEM-7s.
Hello! Welcome to the NJT NEC Line. Glad you enjoyed the ride, and a great video review. Prior to COVID, the NEC line was my ride to Midtown Manhattan. A few things: - That bridge you passed over into Newark Penn is known as "Dock" Bridge. Believe it or not, that bridge is a lift bridge that must be opened for marine traffic on the Passaic River with (I think) 4 hours' notice. I've seen that in action, and yes, when it is opened, given how older bridges tend to be maintained in NJ, you PRAY it closes properly. Note also you probably passed over another major swing bridge after leaving Secaucus Jct. (not sure if you pointed that out in your previous videos) - that's the famous (and much older) PORTAL bridge over the Hackensack River, and it's a source of delays to Amtrak and NJT trains because of maintenance issues and speed restrictions. The good news is that there are plans, now being funded, to replace PORTAL bridge as part of the Gateway Project. - It's good to see that NJT Rail Ops is trying to keep its onboard bathrooms clean. They had real problems doing so prior to COVID. That said, they are tough to come by on longer trains like the one you rode. You are in for a walk to get to them. - Stinks what happened to you at the ticket machine in Secaucus. NJT is in the process of replacing its ticket machines with those that can accept contactless payments. I wish the customer service agent was more helpful than just saying "Go to the ATM." - Finally, towards the end of the video, you caught a glimpse of the SEPTA Silverliner Vs (Hitachi-built, IINM). Trenton Transit Center is a major interchange point between NJT NEC services and SEPTA Regional Rail's Trenton Line (formerly the "R7" Line), with a connection of 30-45 minutes between the two (maybe less in some cases). It is not uncommon for commuters to transfer between the two if they are shuttling between NYC/NJ and Philadelphia, PA
You're absolutely right about the power supply--don't forget the third flavor that Amtrak locos have to deal with from Sunnyside Yard to New Haven, which is 12.5 kV at 60 Hz (not to be confused with the old Pennsy part you're on, which is 12 kV at 25 Hz)!
The Northeast Corridor Line is my favorite on NJ Transit! I've been on the whole thing between New York City and Trenton, as well as the Princeton Dinky.
Loved this video, I'm glad you got one of the good double decker cars, they still employ the now rare Bombardier Comet II cars on that line sometimes. Surprised you didn't mention the Portal Bridge though, which was right after Secaucus. One of the most unreliable lengths of track in the region, since the bridge gets stuck "open" frequently to cause heavy delays since it only has two tracks, one for each way.
As someone else said, you can almost always find Arrows on Gladstone Branch trains, but if you want them running with long trains at higher speeds, generally try to catch the NEC trains to Jersey Avenue around 4-6 PM. Often they run as Arrows during that time. Also, in my experience, train #3873, which leaves New York at 6:14 PM is *always* a 10, 11, or 12-car train of Arrow EMUs, and runs all the way to Trenton.
Great video - nice to see a familiar route! I usually take Amtrak from NYC or EWK to Philadelphia but I have taken NJT to visit other family in NJ. I don’t recall having any problems with my Canadian (Canadian $) Visa card but it’s possible I went to the ticket office at Penn station (a few years ago). I have taken a train at night from Edison, NJ and New Brunswick, NJ to NYC and I don’t recall having an issue with the ticket machines at those stations. The problem I occasionally have when using a Canadian credit card is making an online purchase on a site that won’t accept a Canadian billing address. As you have travelled all over the US I assume you didn’t have problems with your card anywhere else. I’d like to try taking NJT and then SEPTA to Philadelphia but the connections in Trenton seem tricky, especially if you’re shlepping a suitcase as I would be.
A quick note about the catenary. The frequency and voltage between New York (Gate interlocking) and Washington/Harrisburg is still 25Hz at 13Kv. With the introduction of solid state frequency converters allowing conversion from 60Hz down to 25Hz Amtrak has decided to stick with 25Hz for now. The section of constant tension catenary you saw was on a 10 mile section east of Trenton that was installed to allow 160 MPH speeds. This was also done as a test bed for conversion of the rest of the PRR catenary from variable tension to constant tension catenary.
I just took the NEC from Newark Airport to Hamilton a few hours ago - a super convenient way to get to/from the airport. Funny enough, I was on an ancient car - brown cracked pleather, faux woodgrain paneling, barf brown lino floor...maybe 80s vintage? - and I found myself wondering what Thibault would think of this well-past-prime specimen. Bonus - the end doors wouldn't close and the overhead racks were too small for modern carryon luggage!
NJTransit got the Bombardier cars before MARC. I remember being in Baltimore in 2013, visiting the Baltimore Streetcar Museum with a friend, when a freight train rolled past the Museum, and there were 3 Bombardier cars at the end of the freight in NJTransit Paint Logos, heading South, which led to Me and My Friend chasing the freight to outside Baltimore, to see if what we saw was true (it was).
These multilevel coaches were selected as they actually fit in the Hudson River tunnels, the LIRR on the other side of NY Penn Station bought double decker coaches that do not fit in the East River Tunnels, so they can only go as far as Long Island City, where passengers would have to transfer to the 7 train on the subway to get into the city. Usually you will see them being used on the non-electrified lines only (I live about one street away from the LIRR main line tracks so we see all kinds of LIRR trains.)
Nope. The LIRR double deck coaches do fit through the tunnels and are used for peak time services to and from Port Jefferson as well as destinations on the Montauk branch. Some of the diesel locomotives that haul them are dual mode capable and fitted with third rail shoes to run electric only through the tunnel and into Penn station. Its probably more because of track capacity why they don't all run to Penn. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-kc5OOaQrFuo.html
@@a.nonymouse1291 never saw that, this would be great on those days when the Queens Blvd line can’t run and they cross honor metro cards on the LIRR, but no I’m always stuffed into the single level car at forest hills.
@@joermnyc Yeah i think the double decks generally run express from Jamaica, and there's not that many of them in the first place as well that run into Penn. Only a handful.
You wanna ride an Arrow III? Try the Princeton branch "Dinky". Its the shortest commuter line in the US. And did I mention the power for that branch is always Arrows?
The Arrow IIIs are still fun to ride, even if they show their age. I'm sorry you missed out. As others noted, they are always in use on the Princeton shuttle as well as on the Gladstone Branch (for trains going to Hoboken rather than New York, since they can't switched voltages on the fly, and the Hoboken division uses 25kV/60Hz), but the best place to experience them is still on the NEC in those big 10-12 car consists. They are significantly slower at top speed but they accelerate so well that you think you're going faster than on the multilevels. Plus the picture-of-wood interiors are just glorious. If you're of a certain age it's is an instant nostalgia trip back to the "wood age" when everything had fake woodgrain decoration. The multilevels are objectively better, but the Arrows will certainly be missed when they go away. I don't really feel that way about the mix-and-match Comet II/IV/V trains, though. Just be glad you didn't get one of those.
if you wanted to try an arrows III, you could've tried the princeton dinky at princeton junction, a little shuttle train that goes between the station and princeton university
10:52 Looks like I watched this one a year ago and commented then, too. Anyway, these poles are original to when the line was electrified but Amtrak has actually upgraded the catenary in this area recently (from New Brunswick to Trenton). Some poles have been replaced, others have not, but they have changed how the wires are suspended to allow constant tension in all weather. This should allow higher speeds on this fast, straight, level segment when the next-generation Acela (Avelia Liberty) trainsets go into service...eventually....maybe. It's still 12kV/25Hz though.
Just about every railroad bridge over a river in America were built before the turn of the last century. Some wooden bridges have been replaced with steel bridges. Bridges over and under highways is another story depending on when the highway was built, not much different than anywhere else worldwide... A few railroad bridges built for new commuter rail have been built recently, but none are freight main line railroad bridges...
Ah you made it to my home line (though I only moved here a few months ago). A few corrections, it's Newark Penn Station not Union, and the Adams Yard is in North Brunswick not New Brunswick. I hope you do a video on the Trenton Line from Trenton to Philly. Some of the stations are very basic and interesting to see. You think it's hard using European credit cards here, try using US credit cards in Europe. It's literally impossible to buy fuel in France and many other countries without cash...and good luck getting gas in a small French town on Sunday when the stations are unstaffed!
@@solo6058 exactly, but those coaches are allowed even in Penn Station, so Amtrak could try them on the Northeast Regional, considering they wouldn't use an European design because of the lack of sparing parts, maybe this wouldn't be a problem if those coaches are already common
Eight NJ Transit multilevels were modified with business and first class seating and bar facilities for a short lived premium service between New York and Atlantic City beginning in 2008. Amtrak was said to have taken a look at it in planning eventual replacements for its Amfleet in NEC service, even though it was an NJT operation on behalf of Atlantic City casinos.
@@nicopavvi8494 The tunnel under the Hudson River is larger than tunnels in Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington DC... Please don't assume all of the tunnels have the same dimensions...
Great video as always. A simple note: 1) I see you paid $16.75 because you started at Secaucus Junction, it's always cost more there, if you started at Newark Penn, it's only $12.75. 2) The train now changed rom 3:06pm to 3:13pm for your same train previously 3) EMU hardly shows up on weekends, mostly during rush hours on these super express and the Gladstone trains 4) You can use your card at these TVM as long you choose 'Credit' and put zip as 00000 and you'll be able to purchase tickets 5) I see you are on a weekend schedule, try go on a weekday and go on a super express, it's more fun and they only make 2 or 3 stops on entire line and it's always packed!
The super express trains from Newark to Trenton are a remnant of the old Amtrak Clocker trains from NY to Philly. Amtrak sold the train slots to NJ Transit after ending the Clocker service.
Literally just took this line to NYC out of Hamilton 2 weeks ago 😂😂 never fails to amuse me when I see something local-ish on here. On the way there we had double decker cars and on the way back it was one of the really old non-updated wood paneled cars. It was interesting to say the least.
North East Corridor in NJ only has ALP-46 with multilevel consists now. Off peak/overnights are single level Comet IVs and IIMs. Peak hours is when the Arrow Cars show up. The two lines that only use arrows are the Princeton Dinky, and the Gladstone branch, the Morristown line sometimes gets them. But it really comes down to availability
As someone who took a similar commute daily, you hit the jackpot there. It feels like it was common to expect at least 15 minutes of delays both to and from, and the seats were always packed. Still way better then most other public transport options i had though. and yes there are only 1-2 toilets on the whole train. still beats walking though.
I rode the NJ Transit multilevels for the first time last week. Nice ride, but the issue I had was with the lexan windows becoming opaque and unable to see out of them. Doesn't look like your train had that issue. Those turboliners are some of the only ones left. I remember when they used to run on the Hudson Line.
Oh NJ transit, good and bad memories with for many of us. I appreciate you got to experience both an out of service bathroom and what looked like a pee filled toilet 😂 truly a New Jersey experience. Might I suggest a route though? The Boston North Station commuter rail from Boston to Salem is what I used to commute in on to Boston when I lived in Salem. It’s a very nice ride, verrry friendly staff, and a bit of history- you can see the sig. for the factory that makes marshmallow fluff along the way. I miss that commute!
If you want to ride the Arrow MU's, they run almost exclusively on the Gladstone Branch. Any 400 series weekday train between Hoboken and Gladstone or 700 series weekend train between Summit and Gladstone.
It's common in the U.S. for point-of-sale purchases to only accept payments that go through U.S. financial institutions. It' s not just New Jersey Transit. Even Canadians will go to the considerable trouble of getting credit card accounts in U.S. dollars to use in the U.S. All the Canadian banks offer such a service.
It's just weird that these ticket machines only accepts U.S cards. I have spend roughly 18 months in the US during the last 30 years and I can't remember any place where my foreign cards where declined (at least not all of them). Shouldn't at least a foreign Amex card work?
@ 3506Dodge, the reason for that *_may_* be because most banks in the United States are small savings & loan institutions (c.f. The Bailey Saving & Loan in _It's A Wonderful Life_ ) and they don't get a lot of foreign transactions, hence this requirement.
@@Neville60001 There are huge American banks. too. It doesn't have anything to do with that. It's for legal reasons. American banks are subject to 'know your customer' legal requirements.
Not sure if its mentioned here but pro tip if you ever use a foreign card to pay for a transaction and it requires a zip code just press 00000. It usually works, and its the way to do it on the Subway.
One of the odd things (at least from a US perspective), is that because NJT connects to SEPTA in Trenton and MTA in NYC, it's possible to travel about 250 miles solely on commuter rail from Connecticut to Delaware on the NEC. The payment situation is clearly unacceptable. NJT is clearly not geared towards international travelers.
I read an interesting article on this recently. If a couple of small gaps were filled, one could (laboriously) make their way from Massachusetts to nearly DC. The MBTA commuter rail here in eastern MA has branch lines radiating from Boston. Two terminals in Boston, so lines to/from the north & east don't directly connect with those to the south (without using subway). Commuter service out of South Station does go to Providence RI (and one or two trains daily beyond to Green Airport). If Connecticut's commuter rail (serves stations along Northeast Corridor east of New Haven) extended across the RI line from its current last station to Green Airport or Providence - the gap would be filled.
The only spots not served by commuter rail on the northeast corridor are between Perryville, MD and Wilmington, DE, and also New London, CT to Providence, RI Since these are state-run commuter lines (VRE/MARC, SEPTA, NJTransit, Metro North, CT Rail, and MBTA), there are bound to be holes in the line.
Remember one time we took the multilevels from MSU to NYP? Conner The Sushi Packer was riding along with us until the smelly storm hit the train after he had diarrhea in the bathroom, forcing 30 people in the hospital and everyone else off the train at Newark-Broad to catch the next! Riley and Lucy are extremely angry at him! What a smelly adventure we took on New Jersey Transit!
Simply Railway nice video . If you really want a nice ride on NJT NEC try Train 3917 in the AM . It stops at SEC, Newark Penn , The Airport , New Brunswick , Princeton Jct , Hamilton and Trenton
The original voltage on the overhead contact system Was 11kv 25hz Washington-New Haven then in the 1970s-1980s raised to 12.5kv 25hz-60hz Washington DC to New Haven
