Hey!! The Amtrak/NJ transit Newark Airport Station is not accssble from the Neigherborhood that its in!!!!

[rochestergleason]

I went railfannig in the south end of the Oak Island Conrail yard (Old Lehigh Valley Yard) and found to my dismay that despite the fact that I could see and throw a stone at the Newark Aiport Amtrak Station I could not get to it was surounded by a chain link fence as the only in and out was through the airport. Yes I know I was in a urban neigboorhood that is high crime....but why is it that the people who live in this NJ neighboorhood cant get to there own train station? I had to take a bus to downtown Newark to get Amtrak and NJ transit

<iframe width="425" height="350" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=&amp;q=Amtrak&amp;mrt=all&amp;sll=40.680721,-74.205659&amp;sspn=0.029616,0.053988&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;ll=40.680721,-74.205659&amp;spn=0.109318,0.083096&amp;output=embed&amp;s=AARTsJp5fUtzwoFuPC9_Fsvno_c22ZzAfg"></iframe><br /><small><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=&amp;q=Amtrak&amp;mrt=all&amp;sll=40.680721,-74.205659&amp;sspn=0.029616,0.053988&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;ll=40.680721,-74.205659&amp;spn=0.109318,0.083096&amp;source=embed" style='color:#0000FF;text-align:left'>View Larger Map</a></small>

[blue streak 1]

Rochestergleason:   Just one of the errors of building that connection. Did you notice that even though the tracks were all relocated and upgraded the catenary was installed as the old PRR style and constant tension was not installed in that area.  NJ transit on their stub end put in constant tension.

[rochestergleason]

Yes re-use of cat wire and old poles happen all over the place...IC and South Shore use cat from 1910....Cleveland RTA Red Line uses old poles from NYC/Cleveland Terminal from 1920s even though the track was upgraded in the 1990s. I personaly think that most LRV lines are overbuilt.

[blue streak 1]

However.....New cat poles were installed and there has already at least one incidence of NJT pulling down the wire in that area. When constant tension is finally installed what a waste of time and energy to upgrade that 11/2-2 mile section. Reuse of the old wire I agree with but not the hangers and installing the tension weights.

[oltmannd]

Have you looked at the fares from Newark Airport to NYP vs. adjacent stations?  You wouldn't want to board there!

[JT22CW]

The station's not accessible from Frelinghuysen and Haynes Avenues because it was intended to be a transfer station, not to be the new Waverly station.  It's not "their own train station" nor was it ever intended to be.

PS.  As you most likely figured out, HTML does not work in this forum.  Could you edit your first message and get the code out of it?  Thanks.

Also, the extra fare is only necessary if you're passing through the turnstiles going towards the monorail.  Using a ticket between NWK and ELZ would get you on the train, and usually back on a train out of there.

[gardendance]

I'm can't make up my mind. Ordinarily I'd hate the idea of having a station that doesn't serve the neighborhood, but who lives or works near the station to justify the cost? Remember that nowadays we usually have to build escalators and elevators.

Ironically, of course, there are many who probably feel the toy train from the station to the airport itself was unneeded monorail technology, and may have been built less expensively as conventional light rail, so they should have been able to find the pennies for a few escalators and elevators

[henry6]

The station was built to give Amtrak and NJT passengers access to the Newark Airport via the Monorail.  No reason in the neighborhood for anything else. 

[JT22CW]

I'm can't make up my mind. Ordinarily I'd hate the idea of having a station that doesn't serve the neighborhood, but who lives or works near the station to justify the cost? Remember that nowadays we usually have to build escalators and elevators.

The area is not residential, and industry is minimal, although present.  There are three bus routes that go through the area, those being Coach USA's Route 24 (which runs between Jersey Gardens Mall and Orange), and NJT routes 37 (Irvington-EWR) and 107 (Irvington-New York).

Ironically, of course, there are many who probably feel the toy train from the station to the airport itself was unneeded monorail technology, and may have been built less expensively as conventional light rail, so they should have been able to find the pennies for a few escalators and elevators

That makes the JFK Airtrain even more of an irony.  It was built as a conventional railroad.

I myself have never understood the resistance of the PANYNJ to direct rail access of their airports.  I've heard the phony argument of fear of loss of parking revenue, but frankly, those that would drive to the airport to park would do so anyway; and there are many others that drive to do the troublesome pickup/dropoff that causes most of the road congestion at the airport, for whom a rail line would serve far better, even better than buses and/or taxicabs.  The JFK Airtrain should have been a right of way for the NYC subway system (using TA cars for the intra-terminal shuttle train), and the EWR system should have been built to PATH specs, using older PATH cars for their on-airport shuttle (preferably K-cars, but they're long gone now).

[gardendance]

JT22CW I agree with you for now JFK airtrain is ironic, but since it's conventional rail at least it has more potential to get tied into the rest of the transit system, and at least its stations are accessible, since they're just additions to the existing A subway and Jamaica railroad stations.

I saw in some other thread, I think from daveklepper, that there's still a plan to send PATH to Newark airport, but it's like the seminarian who asked the monsignor "Do you think Roman Catholic priests will ever be allowed to marry?", "Perhaps not in our time, but most certainly in our children and grandchildren's time".

[Kay Boose]

I'm can't make up my mind. Ordinarily I'd hate the idea of having a station that doesn't serve the neighborhood, but who lives or works near the station to justify the cost? Remember that nowadays we usually have to build escalators and elevators.

The area is not residential, and industry is minimal, although present.  There are three bus routes that go through the area, those being Coach USA's Route 24 (which runs between Jersey Gardens Mall and Orange), and NJT routes 37 (Irvington-EWR) and 107 (Irvington-New York).

Ironically, of course, there are many who probably feel the toy train from the station to the airport itself was unneeded monorail technology, and may have been built less expensively as conventional light rail, so they should have been able to find the pennies for a few escalators and elevators

That makes the JFK Airtrain even more of an irony.  It was built as a conventional railroad.

I myself have never understood the resistance of the PANYNJ to direct rail access of their airports.  I've heard the phony argument of fear of loss of parking revenue, but frankly, those that would drive to the airport to park would do so anyway; and there are many others that drive to do the troublesome pickup/dropoff that causes most of the road congestion at the airport, for whom a rail line would serve far better, even better than buses and/or taxicabs.  The JFK Airtrain should have been a right of way for the NYC subway system (using TA cars for the intra-terminal shuttle train), and the EWR system should have been built to PATH specs, using older PATH cars for their on-airport shuttle (preferably K-cars, but they're long gone now).

The neighborhood is predom africa american and hispanic and has lots of scrap yards that employ at least 1000 people in varies recycling operations... there are banks....stores.... houses... apartments...I say that yes its a neighborhood all right...... the bus ride adds at least 20 min to the ride and makes it hard to go south on NJ transit to Bound Brook when you have to take a bus to Newark first