Welcome to My Blog

After almost three years and 800+ rides on the New Haven line, I've managed to experience more (and less) than I ever expected with my daily commute. More in terms of all the characters you get to see on the rides and less in terms of the quality and value for what costs me over $300 a month.

The characters have included the card playing foursomes who borrow advertisements for a table, the love sick couples who only really need one seat, the idiots who don't listen to announcements and board a train that doesn't go to their stop, the drunk partygoers who can be heard from one end of a car to another, the cheapskates who try and duck out on a fare by hiding in a bathroom, the self absorbed cell phone users who won't get out of their seat to use the lobby, and the selfish guys who stretch their bodies and belongings so no one will take a seat beside them.

The lack of quality has included Metro North Railroad trains that run a few cars short, cars with no working lights, air conditioning, heat or announcement system, bathroom doors that don't close completely filling the end of the car with their scent, ceiling ventilation systems caked in dust, announcements of delays after the train is already late at your station, seats with inadequate legroom and doors that won't open as expected (or at all).

I plan to use this blog to chronicle the many adventures of riding the New Haven line and hope that you will post your comments and experiences with Metro North railroad, be it on the New Haven, Harlem, Hudson, Port Jervis or Pascack Valley lines.