NJ Transit - A Dangerous Commute?

"...should NJT concentrate more on passenger safety rather than keeping the trains running on time?"

Uh, why not make BOTH a priority?

(MM, walking. Chewing gum....)

..."I typically stand between the cars, and it could be very dangerous because people could be leaning against the door," said Neil McGrath

According to NJT, passengers are not permitted to ride between cars.. The conductors on this train are not enforcing this rule. What's next, commuters with their feet on the seats?

NJT is a joke, but it's the only game in town so we have to put up with their incompetence and arrogance.

Some enforce that rule and some don't. I would say on my weekly commute, I have heard 80% of the conductors to tell people to get their arses inside the doors and I know this because I always take a seat by the doors. Pretty scary about doors just opening up!

This certainly isn't anything new. I was on a train several years ago where a gentleman was quite seriously injured falling off the trestle onto Watchung Avenue. I think he may have ended up with some brain damage. Does anyone else remember that incident? In my view, the conductors were simply not doing their jobs. I don't believe NJT even reprimanded them since they were back on the same train the next night and every night thereafter.

Safety issues related to overshooting platforms and riding between cars are compliance issues completely within control of the train crew. Monitor the crews and penalize them for non-compliance. Mechanical issues are different, but in my experience if there is any sort of mechanical problem with the train (i.e. an external door does not close properly) the train stops until the problem is fixed.

I, too, am frustrated by the poor schedule performance of the trains. Some of this can be blamed on the train traffic trying to get trough 2 tunnels into NYC, and usually NJT blames Amtrak for any delays. This may be justified in many cases, but I'm sure that there are other root causes of problems on the NE Corridor train lines. There are many times that the train shows up 5-10 minutes late, and I am 3 stops from the origination point of the route, so NJT has no one to blame but themselves.

Oh man. This story is great. The people interviewed admit to the fact that they were standing in the vestibule. Of course it's the CONDUCTOR's fault for not correcting their behavior. You know, the whole fact that they are adults and know damn well that they aren't supposed to stand there has no bearing on it, of course.
So this story goes from a report about some mechanical problems causing door malfunctions to a rant and rave session from the union head (what ELSE would he say!?!) and some riders who are really mad that they almost got injured because the conductor didn't yell at them for breaking the rules!
I expect we'll get the same reaction when someone finally gets run over at Walnut St crossing behind the stopped train with the gates down.
But the police weren't there to tell him not to do it! It's their fault, clearly!

My personal favorite--the drivers heading west on Lorraine toward the Upper Montclair train station. As soon as they see the gates going down they make a left turn into the parking lot and drive as fast as they could through the lot, under the assumption that they can beat the gate on Bellevue. I've seen hundreds of cars try this trick, but not one single car has actually make it in time. And, I've seen plenty of pedestrians--and small children--almost get hit by these morons. Are people really in that much of a hurry that they'd be willing to risk killing people with their car just so they don't have to wait for a train?

I don't care about the space between the trains. If you stand there, its your fault. Get me to NY on time

Keeping the trains running on time? Is this a joke?

"Current management's No. 1 priority is on-time performance"

LOL

2/22 - Update Due to earlier disabled Amtrak train, all trains in and out of New York Penn Station are subject to 45-60 minute delays

3/17 - NEC, NJCL and MidTOWN DIRECT trains are subject to 10-15 minute delays in and out of New York due to Amtrak switch problems.

3/24 - Rail Update : Service Inbound to New York Penn Station subject to 20-30 minute delays, due to earlier disabled train.

3/26 - MBNTN-MID #6279, the 6:20pm departure from New York Penn station is cancelled

3/26 - Eastbound trains are subject to 20-30 min. delays due to a disabled Amtrak train.

3/31 - NEC, NJCL & RVL trains subject to 20-30 min. delays due to congestion and late arriving trains from earlier Amtrak power prob.

4/1 - NEC, NJCL and MidTOWN trains are subject to scattered 10 to 15 minute delays in and out of New York due to a disabled Amtrak train

4/7 - Eastbound trains are subject to 10-15 minute delays into New York due to earlier disabled train

i could go back all year, but i'm too lazy to cut and paste the hundreds of email alerts.

Today also had some b.s. wire problem. How many times does a wire go down? Who built these p.o.s. trains?!?

How many times does a wire go down?

The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind...

Seriously, I was wondering the exact same thing this morning. This seems happen at least once every other week at this point. What's holding these things up, and how hard is it to get them to stay that way?

The main problems are the very old rail infrastructure and too little capacity to support current demand.

The US has consistently underfunded the support and maintenance of the aging rail system, which has seen huge increases in commuter use in over the years. Add to this the complexity of fixing a system that is heavily utilized on a daily basis.

trains always get disabled in the tunnels, not before going into the tunnels or upon leaving the tunnels. is this some freudian thing?

also, amtrak is shit & they're 80% of the problem.

http://www.chilloutzone.de/files/08040701.html

rover - I've been loaded onto Japanese trains many times in that manner. Pretty standard on the busy commuter train lines during peak hours. Even with all of that, the trains in Japan are always on schedule, practically to the second. Crazy efficiency.

Personally, I would opt for the 5-10 minute daily delay over the sardine can.

There is an interesting paradox on trains running on time: when I worked in Europe I took trains whenever and wherever I could, which was about 90% of the time. Except in Great Britain -- where the unions have more power than any British PM since Maggie -- the trains were punctual, clean, generous of schedule, fast, and quite inexpensive (given $4/gallon gasoline even 25 years ago). The paradox is that the trains are run by the government. The railroads do not have to pay state and local taxes to every single backwater, incorporated village through which they pass -- which is the case in the US. As far as Amtrak is concerned, it is the worst of socialized transportation: it couldn't stand alone as a for-profit, nor can it succeed as the underfunded, over-subsidized mishegas it is. Is anyone surprised that Mike Dukakis ran it for a long time? But the real problem for trains in the US is that the people, by and large, don't give a damn. We are still too much in love with our automobiles.

BTW, Check out the commuter train horror stories in Boston, where Amtrak also "runs" the commuter railroad. Not long ago, a guy suffered a heart attack near Framingham on a Boston-bound commuter train. The conductor (who also moonlighted as a cardiac surgeon) made an executive decision to take him all the way to Boston's South Station, where there are excellent medical facilities quite nearby. As bad as that decision might have been, the train also made it's regularly-scheduled stop in Natick... The poor man was DOA, of course.

Here's a thought - how about taking some ownership of responsibility? If they overshot - that's bad, but it's darwinism if you step off the train with no landing. Isn't this akin to crossing the road without looking? For a "smart" town like montclair or glenridge, you'd think people would figure this out. Or, they just like to bitch for lack of anything better to do, or their favorate restaurant is closed on Monday's.....

Long day at work. Dozed off on the train on the way home. First off the car at Watchung. Splat.

Easy, you're right. Must've been preoccupied with the lack of Monday night restaurant options.

That's right banana man! Stop asking others to walk you thru life. Take some responsibility. If the bridge is out....don't cross. go figure. like i said .....survival of the fittest.