First day of 'Summer of Hell' is more like 'Summer of Heck'

Commuters board a Hoboken-bound PATH train at the 33rd Street station during Day One of Penn Station repairs on Monday.

It appears that NJ Transit's projections were correct — and a lot of people stayed home or found a different route to New York on Monday, the first day of what was expected to be the start of an eight-week commuting nightmare.

Some people took a ferry to Manhattan for the first time, and others jumped on early trains. But commuters said the crowds, during both the morning and evening rush hours, were not close to what they had been expecting. NJ Transit reported that the number of people going into Hoboken and using PATH trains, which was expected to be a major bottleneck, was lower than they projected.

“I expected chaos, and I'm pleasantly surprised,” said David Peter Alan, chairman of the Lackawanna Coalition, which advocates on behalf of transit riders. “My concern was that PATH wouldn't be running enough service. They did better than I expected.”

Riders in New Jersey faced some jampacked trains and far longer morning commutes because of a $40 million project by Amtrak that kicked into high gear Monday as tracks and switches leading to New York Penn Station are replaced. But the worst of the predictions never materialized — at least not yet.

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NJ Transit had said it was expecting as many as 10,000 additional rail riders to go through Hoboken during the morning rush hours as it diverted most Morris & Essex Line trains from New York to that station. Those predictions were based on models showing that 25 percent of Morris & Essex riders would avoid Hoboken, some by staying home and taking vacation days and others by finding a different way to get into Manhattan.

The actual numbers were even lower, NJ Transit reported — just  8,700 additional passengers during the morning commute.

“We're pleased with what we've seen,” NJ Transit spokesman Charles Ingoglia said on Monday morning at Hoboken Terminal. He credited NJ Transit rail riders for finding different routes. "Our customers seemed to have done their homework."

NJ Transit spokesman Charles Ingoglia talks to reporters on Monday in Hoboken. “We're pleased with what we've seen,” he said Monday morning.

For the final leg of their trip into Manhattan, riders could choose among options at Hoboken — extra bus service, a special NY Waterway ferry service to 39th Street or extra PATH trains to lower Manhattan — and hope that their choice provided the least hassle.

Ingoglia said 800 people had used the special ferry service between 7 and 8:30 a.m. He said it was a "sign" that people were trying different ways to get to work but added that "we know there's more capacity" on the ferries. The service has the capacity to carry 1,800 passengers an hour.

Once the morning rush ended, some transportation officials expressed nervousness about the evening commute. NJ Transit said a total of 3,400 people took early-morning Morris & Essex trains that continued to run directly into New York — and all of them were expected to return through Hoboken.

Some commuters taking the PATH back to Hoboken said the evening rush seemed only slightly busier than usual.

"It wasn't nearly as bad as they made it out to be," said Bill Dougherty, who took the Pascack Valley Line from Pearl River, N.Y., to Hoboken and then the PATH. "NJ Transit has not been as reliable as they used to be in years, so this was better than expected."

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But others said there was a little more pushing and shoving than usual on packed PATH trains during the evening commute.

One woman, Anita Lewis  of Jersey City, was about to get on a PATH train at the crowded 33rd Street platform but suddenly changed her mind and said she'd find another way home. She said the morning commute had not been a problem, and that she would continue using the PATH.

"But today I can't do this!" she said.

Additional commuters funnel through the 33rd Street PATH station in Manhattan, after being rerouted through Hoboken due to the beginning of repairs at New York Penn Station.

Andy Small, 57, an attorney from South Orange, was on an evening PATH train that was too full to pick up would-be riders at Christopher Street, the last stop before Hoboken. Small said he would continue taking the PATH during the Penn Station renovations, although he referred to the ride as “summer sweating.”

“But I wouldn't want it to be like that every day," he said. “There was too much pushing and jostling around.”

Bob Ruina, 56, of Madison, who usually takes the Midtown Direct line to Penn Station, said the summer-long diversion of that line to Hoboken is “a huge inconvenience” that will add 45 minutes to his commute, which normally takes an hour. The vice president of finance at CBS, he avoided the PATH train by taking a NY Waterway ferry.

Thousands diverted to Hoboken

During the Penn Station repairs, NJ Transit is diverting most of the Morris & Essex Line Midtown Direct trains to Hoboken, along with the 23,000 people they usually carry, The agency said a total of 16,000 people use Midtown Direct trains in the morning — but that number included Montclair-Boonton Line passengers and an unspecified number that typically take early-morning Morris & Essex trains.

That left a total of 12,000 to 13,000 additional passengers who potentially could have shown up at the Hoboken station on Monday morning. Computer models showed 25 percent of those riders would not end up in Hoboken — leaving NJ Transit to anticipate 9,000 to 10,000 additional riders between 7 and 10 a.m. 

The actual number was 300 fewer than the lowest projection — a significant development, as the Port Authority was able to add four additional PATH trains an hour during the morning commute, enough to handle about 9,200 people over three hours.

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And while the commute was relatively without incident, some morning commuters waited for two or three PATH trains to pass before one showed up that had room for them. People then squeezed onto the trains — and in some cases doors wouldn’t close.

The biggest problem in Hoboken during the morning commute occurred at the ticketing area one story below the main terminal. There, each of the six computerized kiosks attracted a line of 10 to 12 people, who fumed and cursed under their breath as they waited to buy tickets.

Commuters arrive at the 33rd Street PATH station in Manhattan during the height of Monday morning's commute.

"This is ridiculous," said Alyssa Matos, 24, a Hoboken resident trying to commute to the Flatiron District.

Hoboken resident Stephanie Jackson, 29, hadn't heard about the track closures at Penn Station until she arrived at the Hoboken train terminal. As she waited in line, she texted her boss that she would be late.

"I'm surprised,” she said. “I would have left home earlier if I'd known about this."

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Morris & Essex Line riders had the most complaints, as their one-seat ride to Manhattan was now at least two seats and significantly longer.

James Connell of Maplewood said he was enjoying his first time commuting by ferry to New York. “Actually, it's going great,” he said. “I like that I can take the ferry.”

Commuters from Bergen County saw only minor changes in their schedules, including slightly longer waits at the Secaucus transfer station for trains that go directly into New York.

No commuter appeared to be more prepared than Brad Dupont of Ramsey, a Bergen Line rider who was ready to change his routine on the fly. He usually transfers at Secaucus and catches a train into New York Penn Station, near his job at an advertising agency. But at 7:40 a.m. he was checking his phone, looking for updates about conditions at Penn Station and the Hudson River tunnel.

If there had been alerts about delays at Penn Station, he was ready to switch to his plan B — staying on the Bergen Line to Hoboken, where he'd catch a ferry using NJ Transit's offer of a free transfer. But the ferry was only accepting passengers with train tickets to Hoboken, so to accomplish his goal, Dupont purchased  few train tickets from South Orange to Hoboken for $2 apiece.

"I've been researching this for two months," said Dupont, 46. "I spend three hours a day on the train. That's a lot already. So whenever I get stuck in the tunnel, I hate it. Anything I can do to avoid spending extra time on the train, I'll do."

Staff Writers Melanie Anzidei, John Cichowski, Michael Izzo, Mike Kelly, Christopher Maag, Morgan Smith, Tariq Zehawi, Scott Fallon, Steve Janoski and Philip DeVencentis contributed to this article.