New Jersey Transit commuters are in for some changes today as the agency shuffles schedules and adds rush-hour trains to accommodate increased ridership.
The changes include four extra Midtown Direct trains – three in the morning and one in the afternoon – between Summit, N.J., and Manhattan’s Penn Station.
NJ Transit also is revising its Northeast Corridor service, adding two expresses in the morning and one in the afternoon, and extending two North Jersey Coast Line trains to Hoboken.
“The Sept. 11 attacks radically changed New Jersey’s commuting patterns,” said NJ Transit Executive Director Jeffrey Warsh. New Jersey’s rail lines have been inundated with riders since the World Trade Center terror attacks.
The ban on driver-only cars entering parts of Manhattan during rush hour, as well as other factors, spurred more commuters to use trains, creating standing-room-only conditions.
Before the disaster, 33,700 people passed through Penn Station in New York via NJ Transit’s trains each day.
Now, 43,900 of the agency’s passengers use Penn Station each day; the number was as high as 48,500 in October.
The revised schedules are now available at train stations, or can be see at http://www.njtransit.com.