Until June 10, 1996, riders on the Morris & Essex (M&E) Line, including Montclair and Gladstone Branches, could get to New York City only by taking a train to the historic Lackawanna Railroad terminal at Hoboken and changing for a PATH train to Manhattan. The railroad had once run ferries, but they were discontinued in 1967. Then came a new track connection in the Meadowlands, where the M&E and the historic Pennsylvania Railroad (now Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor) run parallel to each other, although at different elevations. It was the Kearny Connection (located in the town of the same name), and it allowed trains coming from the M&E to get to New York’s Penn Station. A companion project, the Waterfront Connection, allowed trains from Newark Penn Station and points west to get to Hoboken Terminal and, ironically, it was used for the final time in revenue service on May 29, 2026.
The new “Midtown Direct” service to and from New York Penn reduced trip time by about 20–25 minutes each way by eliminating the need to transfer between NJT ground-level and PATH’s underground trains, as well as the roundabout route to get to Midtown Manhattan through Hoboken’s waterfront terminal. The first train did not originate at Dover, but at Montclair. Service was limited then, because the Montclair Connection was controversial at the time and did not open until 2002. Shirley DeLibero, NJ Transit’s executive director at the time, and other senior managers were on the first run and handed out commemorative certificates to riders. The Lackawanna Coalition had consistently supported direct service to New York.
The original schedule added hourly service 7 days a week to and from Penn Station, with additional trains during peak-commuting periods on weekdays, including 2 Gladstone round trips primarily for commuters (still operating today) and a few Montclair trains. Hoboken service, which had previously made up the railroad’s entire schedule, remained unchanged for several years. There are still trains directly to and from Hoboken on weekdays and with a change at Newark on weekends, but Hoboken service has been curtailed severely over time. Weekend service was reduced to every 2 hours or less in 2006, and weekday “off-peak” trains were reduced from half-hourly to essentially hourly in 2008.
Today, Midtown Direct service is the mainstay of the M&E and its Montclair and Gladstone branches. Ridership has increased significantly over the years and home values in the towns along the line have increased dramatically, as well.
Perhaps more important, Hoboken service continues to provide important redundancy for riders on the M&E and its branch lines. Duirng the summer of 2017 and at various times since then, Midtown Direct trains were diverted to Hoboken. Currently, that is occurring for part of the day when FIFA soccer tournament matches are played. Some riders complain when their trains take them to Hoboken instead of New York, but those riders are no longer required to take that trip regularly, as commuters had to do until 30 years ago. Some even enjoy the more-expensive, but quite pleasant, warm-weather routine of taking the train to Hoboken and the ferry from there to Manhattan.
The author had not yet joined the Lackawanna Coalition, but was on the first New York train.
Leave a Reply