Closest Amtrak Station to Delaware Water Gap traveling from NYC

[BJR]

If coming from Penn Station NYC, what Amtrak station gets you closest to the Delaware Water Gap? I know there isn't a direct route and there are buses and other more efficient methods, but if you were determined to take Amtrak from NYC as far as it could take you in this trip, which Amtrak station gets you closest to the Delaware Water Gap? Thanks.

 

[jis]

Newark NJ, about 53 miles as the crow flies.

 

[Qapla]

If you are going to go from NYP to NWK - the PATH would be cheaper than Amtrak ... and runs many more times a day.

 

[MikefromCrete]

I think NJ Transit would get you a lot closer to the Delaware Water Gap than Amtrak.

 

[Qapla]

It does look like the closest that rail gets to DWG is the NJ town of Hackettstown - there are two NJ Transit lines that go there and they leave from NYP

Now, if you MUST ride Amtrak - you can take Amtrak from NYP to NWK and catch NJ Transit at NWK

 

[jis]

It does look like the closest that rail gets to DWG is the NJ town of Hackettstown - there are two NJ Transit lines that go there and they leave from NYP
View attachment 14982


Now, if you MUST ride Amtrak - you can take Amtrak from NYP to NWK and catch NJ Transit at NWK

No Hackettstown train at Amtrak’s Newark Penn Station (NWK). Hackettstown trains are from Newark Broad Street Station (BNW) across town. Also, there are no direct Hackettstown trains from NYP. You have to change at Newark Broad Street or Dover or possibly MSU.

To go to Hackettstown by NJT from NYP take only the NJT Midtown Direct service train to MSU or Dover and change at the end of the line or at BNW to the Hackettstown train, which are very few and far between. Do not take the NJCL or NEC trains. They will take you to NWK not BNW.

And if you do take PATH from 33rd St. instead of Amtrak or NJT from NYP, do yourself a favor and get off at Hoboken and catch a Hackettstown train at Hoboken (HOB) NJT Station and save yourself the trouble of multiple changes in Newark. Changing trains from NWK to BNW in Newark is a royal hassle actually. It is about a two hour ride from HOB to Hackettstown.

My old stomping grounds. I lived a short walk from Short Hills Station on the Morristown Line (Hoboken - Newark Broad Street - Morristown - Dover - Hackettstown). The other line to Hackettstown is the Montclair-Boonton Line or Monty-Boonty (Hoboken - Newark Broad Street - MSU - Boonton - Dover - Hackettstown).

 

[Qapla]

Thanks for making that clearer then the NJT map makes it look like

 

[jis]

Moral of the story is refrain from giving travel advice based purely on abstract route diagrams. Applies doubly so for the more complex systems (e.g. NJTransit RO) that have multiple subroute patterns of operation which are elided from the abstract route diagrams

 

[Qapla]

Agreed ... however, if you go to NJT website and input a trip from NWK to Hackettstown it does give you trains to take - through Secaucus ... maybe not the best routing but evidently possible

However, I like your routing much better

 

[jis]

I don't trusts NJT's tool for route selection any further than I can jump, and at my age that is not too far.

Every train that goes to the Morristown or Montclair-Boonton Line from Secaucus, starts from NY Penn Station, and yet NJT's idiot tool will happily advice you to take an NJCL or NEC train from NYP to Secaucus and hang out there in the middle of the Meadows to catch possibly the next train which is a Midtown Direct which started possibly from the adjacent platform at NY Penn.

Another beauty of it (which is mentioned above) is for changing trains from NWK to BNW it will steadfastly not show the LRT connection and instead show a bus or ask you to trudge back to Secaucus, wait there for almost an hour and get a Midtown Direct there. It was written by some low salary clueless person or group is what I think of it. Hopefully they have managed to fix some of these sillinesses since the last time I looked at it.

Agreed ... however, if you go to NJT website and input a trip from NWK to Hackettstown it does give you trains to take - through Secaucus ... maybe not the best routing but evidently possible

Indeed. It also costs a New York Zone fare which is a third more than one avoiding NY Zone by simply taking the LRT/bus or walk from NWK to BNW, or changing from PATH to Boonton Line train at Hoboken.

In short NJT RO sucks in every possible way and then some these days. At one time it used to get national awards for best system. But NJ politicians have a unique ability of inverse Midas touch, i.e whatever they touch turns to mud.

 

[Maverickstation]

As noted the closest Amtrak service would be Newark, NJ. NJ Transit runs Part Time trains service to Hackettsown and Full Time to Dover Twp.

 

[jis]

Once you get to Hackettstown there isn’t much of any public transit to help you get easily to Del Water Gap anyway. You are more likely to get some buses headed that way at the Mt. Arlington station right off I-80 possibly.