As some of you know, I love to ride trains.  I take them whenever possible, but most of the time I'm riding New Jersey Transit (NJT) from my local station here in Somerville to New York City.  But today I had an unpleasant trip.  The following note was e-mailed to NJT just a short while ago.

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My partner and I rode the Raritan Valley Line on Sunday, Nov. 9, on the 10:21 a.m. train to Newark Penn Station.  We boarded in Somerville.  We did not get to purchase our tickets until just outside of Union.  The car we travelled in was full, as I assume were the other cars in the consist.  There was only one conductor in our car for the entire trip.

It's bad enough that you've cut inbound morning service on the Raritan Valley Line.  However, you must have sufficient crew on board to handle the increased numbers of passengers on those trains still running on Sunday mornings.

Had I been a less honest person, I would have told the conductor that my partner and I had gotten on in Cranford or Roselle Park.  As it was, I paid the full fare and did not complain to the conductor, since I believe the poor service was not her fault.  Had we been going to any station prior to Union, we might well have ridden for free -- at least, one way.

If you're going to cut service, you must have sufficient crew to handle the influx of additional riders on those trains still in service.  Otherwise, you have to restore the service you've cut, or risk dishonest riders making part or all of their journey for free -- at NJ Transit's expense.