Royalty Tours USA

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Post game nightmare for those like me who took the NJ Transit train to the Jet game!

Mob of people attempting to get on the train after the Jet game



Everybody in the media will tell you how great it is to see a game at the New Meadowlands Stadium.

I can agree with that to a point.

Let it be know that the media won't tell you the real facts about going to and from the game. When you go to the Meadowlands be prepared for an adventure regardless of your mode of transportation.

That's where yours truly comes in.

I was fortunate to be able to attend the Giant game on Sunday afternoon as well as the Jet game on Monday night.

I decided to take the train to the game for the first time on Sunday. I normally take the bus from the Port Authority Bus Terminal since I don't have a parking pass and driving there and back is no bargain anyway. In addition, you still have to pay for gas and the ridiculous tolls tool. The train was $10.50 round trip. The bus is $10 round trip. Driving unless that's your only option costs a small fortune plus plenty of aggravation sitting behind the wheel in traffic.

All things considered it wasn't a really bad experience. I managed to get on the train with a minimal delay. I only waited around 20 minutes give or take. The ride from the Stadium to Secauscus Junction was 15 minutes then I had to walk around in a maze and wait to connect with another train that would get me  back to New York Penn Station. After that, I took the NYC subway back to Queens to my car which was parked on the street to get home. It took me around 2 hours from the time I got on line to wait for the train from the stadium to get home.

Monday night was a totally different story as you can see in the picture I took when I was still inside the stadium looking outside.

Yes, I took my time leaving the building. I hate to always be in a rush. After all, I was only going home.

Mind you I still had to wake up early to go to work.

When I saw the mob of people waiting for the train I was absolutely beside myself. I was with my friend Peter Agnew who came up for the weekend from Baltimore. He decided to join me at the game. I wound up meeting him at the seats. He told me he'll go with me after the game since he needed to get back to Secaucus Junction also. Thankfully he did  that way we kept each other company while we waited on line. He's a great guy and we got to talk during and after the game. He said after seeing the hell we had to go through here in the Meadowlands he's very grateful to have the Ravens play next to Camden Yards in downtown Baltimore where the accessibility is night and day. Peter has season tickets for the Ravens on the Club Level.

We finally got outside the stadium and we managed to join the mob scene. Fortunately for us we were able to join the line somewhere in the middle before the barricades were set up. We just kept following people until we were lined up properly. It was a free for all. Once we got in line things seemed to move along. It should be noted a number of people who were behind the barricades started jumping over to cut the line. Some did get stopped but they couldn't possibly have enough security to hold everybody back. There were literally thousands and thousands of people trying to get on the train.

As for the train setup, they have 3 tracks it appears but they weren't that organized to handle this incredible overflow of people. There were people on top of people it was unreal. As the picture tries to show, I wasn't making this up.

Peter and I finally got on the train around 11:25PM after waiting probably 45 minutes or so on the line that we got on. Please note we were able to pass thousands of others in the process. If not, god only knows what time we would have got back to Secaucus Junction where we had to connect with another train. Peter was going to Metropark, NJ where he was spending the night at a hotel with his wife. I was going to New York Penn Station to get the NYC subway back to Queens to get my car so I could  drive myself home. I wound getting home at 1:25AM.

Just think if it's possible to do so, that behind us were thousands of others that needed to get where they had to go. I can only imagine how long it took those people to finally get to their destinations.       

I'm sure nobody in the media was paid to write about this mess.

Their job is sell newspapers and shed a positive light on all situations.

My blog is here to educate, inform and entertain everyday people like myself who have to endure this type of transportation on a daily and nightly basis to go to work and/or play.

Welcome to the 21st century.

If you like to suffer, good for you.

I don't so I'm trying my best to clue you in if you decide to take the train to the game.

Do like I do always know before you go.

I hope you will listen and take my advice.

Remember don't always listen to the media.

When royalty speaks, I strongly suggest you listen.

If you do, I guarantee you'll be forever grateful.

Thank you for reading.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

That's brutal brother. I learned the hard way not to take the train to the Mets game when you have to get back home to South Jersey at a reasonable hour! Always an issue with the train.

K. Smith