Lughead Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 40 years in the making... By Michael Eisen, Giants.com Take this story to go! - RSS | Podcast | Mobile JULY 20, 2009 EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - The Giants today took a train ride that was almost 40 years in the making. The Giants today took a train ride that was almost 40 years in the making. Team president John Mara and offensive linemen Kareem McKenzie and Rich Seubert joined dozens of officials and dignitaries, including New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine, on the first train to stop at the new Meadowlands Rail Station. The station, located just a few yards from the new stadium being built next door to Giants Stadium, will be open for all events that will draw at least 50,000 fans, beginning with this Sunday’s Gold Cup soccer championship. Fans will be able to use the rail service for all Giants and Jets games in Giants Stadium in 2009 and in the teams’ new stadium in 2010. “This is certainly an exciting day for the Giants organization,” Mara said. “When my father (the late Wellington Mara) decided in the early 1970s to move our team here from Yankee Stadium, that decision gave birth to the development of the Meadowlands Sports Complex. We are now about to begin our 34th season here and it has been a great history that we have had here. One thing that has been lacking in those 34 years has been the limited public transportation to and from the complex. We are very delighted that this season fans from throughout New Jersey and New York for the first time will be able to get to the stadium via train. Approximately one-third of our season ticket holders come from New York City, Connecticut and Westchester. So, this new rail link will hopefully become a convenient and pleasant resource for them. Many of them are already commuters, so they understand and appreciate the convenience of train travel. Now, we urge them, as well as all of our fans from the Garden State to consider using this train.” “It is exciting,” Seubert said. “This is just another way for the fans to get to the games on Sundays. I think it is great. It gives them easy access to get over to the stadium. To be part of it today is special. I am sure it is going to be easier for the fans. I think the getting home part is going to be the easier part for them, just hopping on the train and going back home. After the game, with the traffic around Giants Stadium, it is always hard to get out of there. Now, the fans can use mass transportation.” The new line operates between Hoboken Terminal and Meadowlands Station, stopping only at the Frank R. Lautenberg Station at Secaucus Junction. The ride from Hoboken to the stadium is approximately 23 minutes and it’s a mere 10 minutes from Secaucus. Trains will run every 10-20 minutes before and after events. The trains will reduce congestion and pollution around the Meadowlands and help play an important role in the development of green transportation practices. The new stadium will be the most environmentally-friendly in the country. It has been almost four decades since New Jersey officials and the Giants first began talking about the team moving to the Meadowlands. At the time there were discussions about adding a rail station, but they never came to fruition – until now. “When we first decided to come over here, we talked about having rail service,” Mara said. “But my father didn’t think it would ever happen. That was something that had been mentioned as part of the inducement to come over here back in the early 70s was more public transportation. But we never quite got around to that. It’s been a long time coming, but I think it will be a great feature for the complex.” Mara was joined on today’s inaugural ride by Corzine, Jets owner Woody Johnson and Carl Goldberg, the chairman of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority. McKenzie and Seubert, as well as Jets players Jerricho Cotchery and Damien Woody, and a cast of dozens of politicians and New Jersey Transit officials, were also on the train. “This is just a testament to how great this facility that we are standing in the shadow of will be,” Johnson said. “It is going to make it a lot friendlier for the fan to have this rail facility. I can tell you, having done the ride, it is a beautiful ride. You are seeing the Meadowlands from a different perspective than most of us have ever seen it. Just from that standpoint it is going to be exciting. This rail line is going to be very, very helpful also for the game operations and for activity operations here, in terms of reducing traffic and making the experience better. It will keep fans in their seats, instead of worrying about getting home immediately before the game has ended. I couldn’t be happier to have this as part of our ongoing journey.” “This is a very, very important day,” Corzine said, “recognizing a dream that was laid out many, many years ago and coming to fruition at an appropriate time. We have this great new stadium, probably the best environmentally sound stadium, the best fan designed stadium and most certainly the best football teams in the country between the Jets and the Giants. We are sure to have a Super Bowl, and we need mass transit to get all the people back and forth on a regular basis to this great stadium and this great complex, as we go forward. Forty years this has been on the drawing boards, and today is the first official trip. We are extraordinarily pleased that we are moving forward, as we are with many, many transportation projects across this great state.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ppodlesny Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 that's awesome! being South jersey, driving to and from the meadowlands sucks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGBLUE01 Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 Thats pretty cool. We have a rail system just like that here, except it goes from our East Valley to the Central valley. But that should make it easier for many peepes goin to the game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gman329 Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 This is LONG overdue! We have rail lines crisscrossing all over the Meadowlands and yet there has never been a rail link to an arena seating over 19,00 and a stadium seating over 75,000! Of course, they still screwed it up a little by having the spur come off the Pascack line, instead of the Bergen/Main line, which has 10 times the ridership.....and worse, even if traveling on the Pascack line, you have to pass the stadium and go to the Seacaucus transfer station, where ALL the lines merge, including all trains from NYC, to get the train back to the stadium. This guarantees that place will be a madhouse! Still, it's a start..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ppodlesny Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 This is LONG overdue! We have rail lines crisscrossing all over the Meadowlands and yet there has never been a rail link to an arena seating over 19,00 and a stadium seating over 75,000! Of course, they still screwed it up a little by having the spur come off the Pascack line, instead of the Bergen/Main line, which has 10 times the ridership.....and worse, even if traveling on the Pascack line, you have to pass the stadium and go to the Seacaucus transfer station, where ALL the lines merge, including all trains from NYC, to get the train back to the stadium. This guarantees that place will be a madhouse! Still, it's a start..... you have to crawl before you can walk right? I think this will develop real nicely overtime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nas Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 that's awesome! being South jersey, driving to and from the meadowlands sucks Fixed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nas Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 This is LONG overdue! We have rail lines crisscrossing all over the Meadowlands and yet there has never been a rail link to an arena seating over 19,00 and a stadium seating over 75,000! Of course, they still screwed it up a little by having the spur come off the Pascack line, instead of the Bergen/Main line, which has 10 times the ridership.....and worse, even if traveling on the Pascack line, you have to pass the stadium and go to the Seacaucus transfer station, where ALL the lines merge, including all trains from NYC, to get the train back to the stadium. This guarantees that place will be a madhouse! Still, it's a start..... Yea but this is New Jersey we're talking about... give it 150 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ppodlesny Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 Fixed I wish I could disagree, but I would still rather live here than calIfOrnia-U Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ppodlesny Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 Yea but this is New Jersey we're talking about... give it 150 years. if you are lucky, the 150 is to just to get the "engineers" out to look at maybe take some measurements Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now