New Jersey Transit reports that about 4,000 people a day used the new Secaucus Transfer rail station during its first full week in operation. The $450 million station links 10 of the state's 11 commuter rail lines under one roof. That means Manhattan-bound riders from Bergen and Passaic counties can now ride a New Jersey Transit train straight into New York, cutting as much as 20 minutes from some commutes.
State officials expect some travelers to use the station to get to Newark Liberty International Airport. The station also makes new suburb-to-suburb rail commutes possible. "This opens and creates new job markets in places like New Brunswick, Trenton and Princeton," says New Jersey Transit spokesman Ken Hitchner.
Meanwhile in New York, the new AirTrain to JFK is a hit with travelers who can now zip to the airport from Manhattan in 45 minutes- -a cab ride can take two hours in heavy traffic. AirTrain is an 8- mile, light-rail system connecting each of JFK's terminals, with spurs linking up to New York's subways and Long Island Rail Road commuter trains. Critics say the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey spent $1.9 billion, and there's still no "one-seat ride" between Manhattan and JFK. But Port Authority spokesman Pasquale DiFulco says AirTrain is a start.
