The B24 Blog: “Take the Train to the Game” they say, Many listen, Übercrowding

So as transit agencies have declared for a while, “Take the Train to the Game,” so I did. Having received tickets to the USA vs. Brazil soccer game at New Meadowlands Stadium, I arranged to meet a friend (who was driving) at the stadium and I would take the train in. Coming in from the 7th Avenue subway and LIRR concourse, the first thing I noticed as I reached the top of the escalator was a REALLY long queue. I followed it to see where it leads, and as you may expect, it leads around a corner and to a bank of four New Jersey Transit ticket vending machines. Near those vending machines was another queue for a more distant bank of vending machines, and near those was another queue for a third bank of vending machines.

I grabbed a quick dinner at Auntie Anne’s (pretzel dog and soda) and went for the third bank of ticket vending machines, which were located to the south of Track 1. After buying the tickets, the “last call” came for the next train to stop at Secaucus, the 19:03 to Trenton, leaving on Track 2. That train of Arrow III cars was quite crowded when I got to the platform, and there were STILL people looking to get on. I managed to get a spot in the vestibule of the first car. Talk about a sardine can! It was hot and crowded until the train got into the tunnel. Meanwhile, the train was making switching moves that reminded me of the end-of-car movements between a pair of R46 cars at Cortlandt Street. Once at Secaucus, I had to transfer to the Meadowlands train which was announced to be on Track H. Upon reaching the platform for Tracks G and H, an announcement came, saying the next train would be on Track G instead. While I got a seat in that Comet IV car, it quickly became crowded.

The game was enjoyable, the stadium looked great, all sorts of people were there, and then the time came to go home.

After saying good-bye to my friend, I headed toward the entrance. It was quite literally a sea of humanity. It was like a large majority of the 77,223 people who attended the game were now trying to get to the train… at the same time. The only trains that I saw in the station were “Mixed Bag o’ Comets.” That's when I posted this on Twitter:

You would think that with this much crowding, New Jersey Transit would put multilevels on their Meadowlands svc. http://twitpic.com/2dkew9

I would later post more photos from within the crowd.

More pics of the train crowd. http://twitpic.com/2dlkpn http://twitpic.com/2dlkpr http://twitpic.com/2dlkpg http://twitpic.com/2dlkq4

But finally, after about 25 minutes of enduring a crowd that would make the Lexington Avenue subway at the peak of rush hour look like the Rockaway Park Shuttle on a weekday midday in the dead of winter (including a point where there was pushing from all points behind me, such to guarantee that any poor soul who trips and falls would be seriously trampled), I was finally able to board a train. Having boarded the head car, a Comet V, and found a seat, I waited for the train to leave. Apparently, they fill the trains so that there are only a few standees, but not crush loaded like the trains going in. Once the train departed, I noticed a train of multilevel cars pulling in – what every train to the Meadowlands should have been. Anyway, as my train approached Secaucus, the question came up about whether to change trains at Secaucus, or stay on the train and take the PATH at Hoboken. A quick look at DepartureVision showed that the next train to New York would be the 23:09 (train #3886), and the next train wouldn’t be for almost 40 minutes (23:48, train #3288). Since I wasn’t 100% sure we would make the 23:09, and certainly didn’t want to be a part of the 40 minutes of crowding that would accumulate, I decided to ride the train to Hoboken. I’m glad I made that decision, because almost everyone in my car got up and got off at Secaucus. I’m sure that 60 to 85 percent of the train’s passengers got off at Secaucus. After numerous reminders from the train crew that the train’s next stop would be Hoboken, the train doors closed, and we were on our way. I had changed my seat by this time, since I knew that Hoboken was a low platform station, and that the engineer’s cab compartment was certainly unusable as an exit. I seated myself near the rear door and watched through the darkness for any sign that we were approaching the station.

Upon reaching Hoboken, I knew what I needed to do: take the PATH to 33rd Street. One problem arose as I counted my change: the fare was $1.75, and all I had on me was a $10 bill, $1.55 in change, and several pennies. I didn’t want to use the $10 at the PATH vending machine, so I was essentially 20¢ short. I found a convenience store within the station and bought a soda and asked for a dollar in quarters as part of my change using the $10 bill. Sufficient change in hand, I proceeded into the station. As I was fumbling around for the change in my pocket, a train to 33rd Street arrived an left. I reluctantly waited for the next one, while trying to reconcile with the printed timetable, as the train of PA5 cars I saw was labeled as a 33rd Street via Hoboken (Yellow & Blue) train (it was about 23:30 at this time. I thought the “via Hoboken” service started later). The next train, a train of PA1 cars was also identified as such. Happy to see this, I boarded, stood at the railfan window (while an older gentleman, who was on the train when it arrived, was in the railfan seat) as the train made the 3.6-mile journey from Hoboken to 33rd Street. I then went for the Broadway line and boarded a train on the uptown local track. It was a Q. It was not going to Astoria. Great, more waiting¡

I took the train to 57th Street, hoping that an N was not too far away. Apparently it was. There were two trains that passed through the station going uptown while I waited there. The first was a 16-car train of R46 cars, essentially two full-length R trains coupled to and moving as a single train. The next was a 10-car train of R160s. Both trains headed up towards 63rd Street. My N train finally arrived, and left me at Queensboro Plaza where a Flushing-bound 7 train was waiting. (Finally, a no-wait connection that helps me!)

I got home at about 00:40, with a story to tell that briefly made me forget that the USA lost to Brazil by a score of 2-0.

Additional photos. Sorry for the poor quality, but hey, I wasn't going for magazine quality pics here (and at points I couldn't because of the crowds):

Car 5564 in a Bon Jovi wrap