News: Great Notch Station Will Be Abandoned 1/16/10

[N-Trizzy2609]

Effective Saturday, January 16, Great Notch Station will be closed due to low ridership (approximately 10 passengers per day).

Great Notch customers should consider traveling from Montclair State University Station, located about one mile away, or Little Falls Station, which is less than two miles away.
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So anybody whose railfan this spot should do it now! I knew this station was going to be shut down. Only 4 trains serve it. They should also get rid of Avenel and North Elizabeth.

[metsfan]

Originally Posted by N-Trizzy2609

So anybody whose railfan this spot should do it now! I knew this station was going to be shut down. Only 4 trains serve it. They should also get rid of Avenel and North Elizabeth.

North elizabeth is important to the local community, and does see a large number of people use the trains that do still serve it. Avenel also. You can't just go and close a bunch of train stations just because it isn't a newark penn in ridership, those people, and all tax paying supporters of state run transit deserve to be served by the system they pay for. Great notch is an exception, because 2 stations are within walking distance in either direction. Once ARC is complete more trains will stop at north elizabeth.

- A

[Joe]

You have to admit though, Great Notch is a cool name.

[metsfan]

Originally Posted by Joe

You have to admit though, Great Notch is a cool name.

Yea, it is. Now it will just be a "great notch" along the ROW...

- A

[MegaBus]

If it is a walking distance, it'll be fine to close it...

Originally Posted by Joe

You have to admit though, Great Notch is a cool name.

Originally Posted by metsfan

Yea, it is. Now it will just be a "great notch" along the ROW...

- A

Agreed, with both of ya... Sounds like a name typically for islands or seaports, !

[Pablo M 201]

Ain't surprised, the closing of Great Notch was coming.

I mean, I can understand why people wouldn't want to take the train. Here's two scenarios (one during peak hours, one during off peak hours):

1. It's the rush hour, you want to go to New York City. You could take the Boonton train to Newark-Broad Street for trains to New York City or go to Hoboken for other services. OR, you can take New Jersey Transit buses #191 or #195 which come during the rush from 5 to 20 minutes, and take you straight to the Port Authority Bus Terminal in NY. I'll the bus thank you very much cause it might just be faster than taking the train.

2. Its off peak, and yet again, you want to go to New York City. You would have to take the Boonton train to Montclair State University and transfer to a Midtown Direct train which is a close connection but is always made. Or, instead of waiting for the Boonton train which isn't all that often, you can once again take the 191 or 195 bus straight to the Port Authority Bus Terminal in NYC.



So in this case, it seems the people in that area have taken the bus over the train because the times that I've ridden the 195, we pick up heavy in that area.

[N-Trizzy2609]

Originally Posted by MegaBus

If it is a walking distance, it'll be fine to close it...

The walking distance from Great Notch to MSU is the same from walking from Tompkinsville to St. George in Staten Island. And people do walk that far to avoid paying the fare at St. George.

Originally Posted by Pablo M 201

Ain't surprised, the closing of Great Notch was coming.

I mean, I can understand why people wouldn't want to take the train. Here's two scenarios (one during peak hours, one during off peak hours):

1. It's the rush hour, you want to go to New York City. You could take the Boonton train to Newark-Broad Street for trains to New York City or go to Hoboken for other services. OR, you can take New Jersey Transit buses #191 or #195 which come during the rush from 5 to 20 minutes, and take you straight to the Port Authority Bus Terminal in NY. I'll the bus thank you very much cause it might just be faster than taking the train.

2. Its off peak, and yet again, you want to go to New York City. You would have to take the Boonton train to Montclair State University and transfer to a Midtown Direct train which is a close connection but is always made. Or, instead of waiting for the Boonton train which isn't all that often, you can once again take the 191 or 195 bus straight to the Port Authority Bus Terminal in NYC.



So in this case, it seems the people in that area have taken the bus over the train because the times that I've ridden the 195, we pick up heavy in that area.

The station will become like Freehold NJ. It will be used for buses. NJ Transit also had desire to build a new bus station in the adjacent parking lot. I think the station should be kept in operational condition so if any emergency, trains can disembark there.

[Nexis4Jersey]

Is Jersey Avenue on the chopping broad aswell? Seems like very people use that Station

~Corey

[metsfan]

Originally Posted by Nexis4Jersey

Is Jersey Avenue on the chopping broad aswell? Seems like very people use that Station

~Corey

Actually jersey ave is busy, it's just low level and one side, and trains from it need to cross the entire set of tracks potentially blocking the nec. Adams lane can be rebuilt as a 8-10 car high level station, but it would involve an overpass with access on either side and parking.

- A

[MegaBus]

Originally Posted by N-Trizzy2609

The walking distance from Great Notch to MSU is the same from walking from Tompkinsville to St. George in Staten Island. And people do walk that far to avoid paying the fare at St. George.

The station will become like Freehold NJ. It will be used for buses. NJ Transit also had desire to build a new bus station in the adjacent parking lot. I think the station should be kept in operational condition so if any emergency, trains can disembark there.

Is the Great Notch Station also a few cents cheaper? And thanks for the Comparison. Long time have not railfanned together ayy...

Thanks for the update on what it might become, !

[AgedPolaris]

Originally Posted by metsfan

Actually jersey ave is busy, it's just low level and one side, and trains from it need to cross the entire set of tracks potentially blocking the nec. Adams lane can be rebuilt as a 8-10 car high level station, but it would involve an overpass with access on either side and parking.

- A

Yes, last time I took the train from NYP to Princeton Junction during the evening rush, most of the people got off at Jersey Ave, believe it or not.

[Jamaica Express]

Originally Posted by Nexis4Jersey

Is Jersey Avenue on the chopping broad aswell? Seems like very people use that Station

~Corey

Nooo Jersey Ave is very popular station with the Rush Hour crowd, the station sees about 1800 boardings a day. A while back NJT was talking about making it a full time mainline station with off peak and weekend service. N.Elizabeth sees a decent amount of boardings as well in correlation to the amount of service it gets, it always varies from 500-600 boardings quarter to quarter.

Stations that SHOULD be on the chopping board is Mountain Lakes on the as well as Peapack on the gladstone branch and Lebanon on the

Also the whole double station thing that the has going in the Oranges needs to end, for the sake of more efficient operations.

[fishmech]

Originally Posted by Jamaica Express

Nooo Jersey Ave is very popular station with the Rush Hour crowd, the station sees about 1800 boardings a day. A while back NJT was talking about making it a full time mainline station with off peak and weekend service. N.Elizabeth sees a decent amount of boardings as well in correlation to the amount of service it gets, it always varies from 500-600 boardings quarter to quarter.

Jersey Avenue is 200 times the boardings Great Notch had on an average day last quarter, and N Elizabeth is about 55-66 times that.

[metsfan]

Originally Posted by Jamaica Express

Stations that SHOULD be on the chopping board is Mountain Lakes on the as well as Peapack on the gladstone branch and Lebanon on the :rvl

My grandpa used to take the train from Flemington to Peapack and other places to see bicycle races back in the 20's & 30's. Closing that station will not improve anything, it needs more service. I see the arrow sets at hoboken sitting there for a fairly long time, this observation is re-enforced by looking at the timetable, often the same 2 sets serve the line all day!

My point is that all of the DL&W commuter lines have somewhat closely spaced stations, that's why they were electrified & mainly use EMU from the inception of the electrification.... It works, it's a good reminder of the way things used to be, and an example of a line that could use more service. Remember, a closed station cannot have ridership growth.

- A

[N-Trizzy2609]

Originally Posted by metsfan

My point is that all of the DL&W commuter lines have somewhat closely spaced stations, that's why they were electrified & mainly use EMU from the inception of the electrification.... It works, it's a good reminder of the way things used to be, and an example of a line that could use more service. Remember, a closed station cannot have ridership growth.

- A

Peapeck see a rather handful of service.