[Date Prev][Date Next] [Chronological] [Thread] [Top]

Re: (erielack) EXTENDED COMMUTER SERVICE

- --- On Sun, 1/4/09, Neil Weinberg <laurellines_@_gmail.com> wrote:>
> You guys don't get the point! The commuter trains from Scranton are
> proposed for the purpose of getting daily riders QUICKLY from East
> Stroudsburg and the Delaware Water Gap stations to Hoboken, Newark &
> NYC.

I DO get the point.  It's expected that most Pocono riders will get off the trains in Morris County!  Go to the Parsippany Boulevard bridge over I 80 in the morning and look east, so you can see the license plates on the back of the cars as they pass.  Most cars from Pennsylvania are in the right lane, lined up to exit to I 287 - and over half the traffic exits I 80 at this point, only to be replaced by traffic coming from I 287 and Parsippany.  Most of the people are going to jobs in Morris Township, Morris Plains, Morristown, Florham Park, Parsippany, Harding...

> Because of the Pocono Mountain barrier, the train cannot
> travel fast from Scranton to East Stroudsburg and visa versa.

Yes, there is a lot of track that was 50 mph or less in DL&W and EL days.  It wouldn't be faster unless the route were changed and grades eased.  ISTR a few S-curves.

> Passengers from Scranton & Mt Pocono, etc would be those who
> travel to NYC for shopping, theater, medical appointments,
> sight seeing etc.

I think Neil is WAY too optimistic.

Shopping?  You'd do better looking at the web sites of the stores you'd visit and having the merchandise shipped - even department stores like Macy's and specialty stores like Tiffany!

Proposed schedules will have off-peak and weekend service but won't support a trip to 'The City' for an evening Broadway show - there will NOT be a train to Scranton after the curtain call, at least not initially.  Plan on staying overnight, for sure.  Martz's last bus to most places is at 9pm, with departures at 10, 11 and 12:30 to Mount Pocono, Scranton, Stroudsburg, and Wilkes-Barre (10 pm bus doesn't go to W-B) ONLY.

Medical appointments?  Three to four hours each way is a LONG train ride to see a doctor - that doctor had better be one of the top three in the world!  It will be an all-day or overnight trip.  There ARE capable physicians in Scranton; it's not a third-world country (though some might think so).

Sightseeing would work, presuming the visitor plans to stay at least one night...

> Scranton will provide the layover facilities to clean the coaches &
> fuel the locomotives.

You might wonder why.  It's because there really isn't room for a these facilities before Scranton.

> Even during the rush hours, the bus will be faster from
> Scranton to NYC!

Almost certainly true, and it won't be a problem because most of the commuters from Scranton aren't going to NYC.  Train service won't compete much with Martz because Martz doesn't serve Morris County.

Gary Kazin
DL&W Milepost 35.7
Rockaway, NJ


      

	The Erie Lackawanna Mailing List
	http://EL-List.railfan.net/
	To Unsubscribe: http://Lists.Railfan.net/erielackunsub.html

------------------------------