According to today's New York Times, the long-awaited station connecting the EWR Monorail to the Northeast Corridor railroad tracks will open on September 30. New Jersey Transit trains will stop there.

Here's a surprise: The fare will be $11.15 from New York's Penn Station and $6.65 from Newark's station. Those seem to be one-way fares. They are much higher than the one-way fares to much more distant destinations. For instance, one-way from New York to Princeton Junction is $8.90 peak! How can they charge more for traveling one-third as far? What would stop someone from buying a ticket to Princeton Junction (or someplace closer and cheaper) and just getting off at the Airport station? (This is a variation on the airline hidden-city trick!) Will they run special trains that just go to the airport and back?

Bruce

Interesting point! Thanks!

Please also see:

http://www.flyertalk.com/airports/ft...ML/000010.html

The fares from Newark ($6.65) and New York ($11.15) include a surcharge to cover the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey's debt and operating cost ($1.50 from Newark and $2.50 from New York).

Interestingly, there is the Airlink bus that runs from Newark Penn Station to Newark International Airport that cost $4.00. The regular 62 bus cost only a dollar. The Differences: the regular bus makes a few local stops before arriving at the airport. Both start and finish at almost the same spot: one bus lane apart.

Newark Penn Station serves as a major transportation hub. Besides being on the Northeast Corridor with Amtrak, NJTransit and PATH (To Manhattan) train service, it has NJTransit and Greyhound bus service.

[This message has been edited by doctorphil (edited 07-27-2001).]

They have started enforcing baggage limits on the #62 bus. You can bring aboard only what will fit under your seat or on your lap. Usually, that's good enough for me!

Bruce

Sorry, I donot undestand, becasue there seem to be a New York Penn Station, and a Newark Penn Station.

My refrence is the Olympic Bus that goes to Gd Central or Manhattan Penn statin for 11 dollars, 45 minutes (with waiting time).

How does this new trip compare to this bus ?

Here's what I need to endure to use the new EWR monorail:

1. Drive from home to a rail station on the New Jersey Transit mainline or Bergen line.

2. Take this commuter train to Hoboken (runs mainly during rush hours).

3. Take PATH (change of trains in Jersey City) to Newark's Penn Station.

4. Take the new monorail from Penn Station to Newark International Airport.

5. Transfer from this monorail to the inter-terminal monorail for delivery to my terminal.

Estimated elapsed time, including waiting: 2 hours.

Actual elapsed time to drive: 35 minutes.

Comparative costs: about the same.

Ah, the efficiency of mass transportation!

FTers, please take the new monorail and free up another parking space at EWR for my car! Thanks.

0524, you are obviously the not the targeted audience of the new train line. Good luck with your car, and the traffic. I for one will enjoy FINALLY getting into and out of EWR and into the city like the rest of the civilized world (i.e. without a car in Manhattan, go figure), but I used to live in Bloomfield so I understand that wouldn't have done me any good, either. (Yes I had a car in Bloomfield, and I drove it down to EWR as opposed to the options that you mentioned, so I'm not truly Manhattanized)

Okay...so what if I buy a ticket from Newark or New York to Elizabeth and just happen to get off at the airport stop? Unless they physically prevent you from getting off (not gonna happen with 2-4 conductors on 4-12 cars trains) or check your tickets getting on to the monorail....it seems stupid. Maybe it would be better if they collected a fare upon entering the monorail at the train station and exiting at the train station.

I would imagine (hope) that there are going to be airport only trains.

I'm wondering if tickets purchased at the monorail station will be more expensive. For instance, if EWR to Princeton Junction will be more expensive than Penn Station to Princeton Junction.

It will be nice to have a more direct rail link into Princeton than PHL-SEPTA-NJTransit or the bus to Newark Penn Station.

But after hearing of the limited service NJ Transit is thinking about providing, some wonder whether many will want to bother taking a train to the plane. Just three trains are supposed to stop every hour in each direction from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays; just one per hour on weekends. Fares are pretty high, too. Though less than a cab, the fares include up to $7 in surcharges beyond what you normally pay for a one-way ticket.


"If the mission is to truly avoid congestion at that airport, then you've got to give people convenience and price to encourage that," said Len Resto, president of the NJ Association of Railroad Passengers. "You're not giving them that."


Janine Bauer, executive director of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign transit advocacy group, noted three trains an hour is even less than the bus service NJ Transit already runs between the airport and Newark Penn Station.


"You've got to beat the bus, and you've got to beat the cab," she said.


But unless things change, it's likely the bus will beat the train -- even in traffic.

http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/index....r/13fa1fc.html