A North Jersey Teen Takes The Morning Train

HOBOKEN, NJ – Commuting isn’t just for adults anymore. My name is Teddy Almond and I'm a rising senior in high school at The Hudson School here in Hoboken. Every day I commute to school from outside Hudson County, along with dozens of other non-Hoboken native classmates from all over northern New Jersey.

I’ve had a number of unique experiences taking the NJ Transit trains each day.

Every day starts for me at 6:15 a.m. when I start my morning routine. I have to make sure I am on time because I need to make the 6:58 train. Luckily for me, I only live a few minutes from the train station, but I have had times when I am juggling all my things running up the platform stairs trying to catch the train pulling into the station.

I live in Madison — a town situated along the Morris & Essex train line in North New Jersey. Many students currently enrolled at my school also commute every day via this train. I have also met students going to Oratory Preparatory in Summit, Seton Hall Prep in South Orange, and St. Peter’s Prep in Jersey City.

Every morning I always see familiar faces get on board, whether they be students or faculty from The Hudson School, or familiar conductors. On the way to school, everyone likes to do their own thing; for me, I like to read, do homework, or listen to music, but it really depends on the person. Everyone, still groggy in the early morning, tends not to chit-chat alot on the train to school, but from school, it is a different story.

When school gets out at 3:10 students and faculty rush to the Hoboken train station. Since Hudson is about a twenty minute walk away, one must budget one's time in order to make the train. Many students choose to walk and chat to their friends on the way to the station, while others may take the local 126 New Jersey Transit bus that goes down Washington Street.

On the train, I catch up with friends as well as get an early start on my homework.

New Jersey Transit trains are notorious for having issues with their service, and while I am usually lucky not to have too much disruption to my daily routine, I am no stranger to the inconveniences they sometimes have to offer.

For example, one time, about a couple months ago, I was on my way back home. I was able to catch an earlier train than usual, one which departed from Hobken at 2:27. This was an express service only supposed to take about 45 minutes. However, somewhere in the Meadowlands the train’s interior lighting went dark and I could hear the engine slowly coming to a halt. We sat on the track, in the dark, and I heard a big sound – like thunder – and I tried to look through the window.

Suddenly I saw a big blue flash of electricity out of the corner of my eye from the rear of the train.

The piercing light drew all of the passengers to the windows on the left side of the carriage. Not knowing what was going on, the conductor made an announcement explaining that the train before us had snagged an overhead wire, causing it to snap. He told us that we should be on our way momentarily and that we should all sit tight.

About half an hour elapsed and people started wondering what was going on. I knew that we might be there for a while when the conductor told everyone where the bathrooms were.

After about an hour, a voice came on the intercom explaining that a remedy had been found. He explained that this train was temporarily disabled and not going anywhere and that we should prepare to abandon the train in favor of a new train that was going to come down the track.

Some of us were a bit confused considering there was no platform and just a stony ditch below us.

The conductor asked us to line up by the door. I saw the two conductors leap down out of the train into the ditch.

We were told to pass our luggage and bags to one who would take it down the ladder while the other conductor would help us descend into the ditch below. While it was relatively easy for me, this would not have been possible for someone with mobility issues, as was the case with the women ahead of me who required some extra assistance.

The next step was for us to traverse a few yards in the ditch and climb back into the new train.

Good Experience, With Caveats

For me, commuting can be a good, detoxifying experience that lets me unwind at the end of the day, but it also carries with it some caveats. Because I commute, I have to be very conscious of time; this means that I have less time to hang out with friends after school, and if I do, the time I spend after school is often dictated by the train schedules.

While I do feel at times this can make socializing more difficult, I also feel it can help strengthen other friend groups. At my school, a lot of the commuter students stick together and are always happy to help each other out.

For me, the time I spend socializing on the train with friends and other people from school helps me grow friendships with other people, especially with those whom I might not normally interact with.

However, not all issues with New Jersey Transit are issues that can be avoided.

Weather also plays an important role in delays. The main issue is down trees – if a tree falls down at one station and brings down the power lines, the whole system will stop, so no trains can pass through the station and no train can get me to school. I’ve had it happen to me before. In the past, a tree fell and knocked out all stations between South Orange and Madison (where I live) and it meant that I had to drive to South Orange, take a packed train from there, and then had to transfer at some other station to get on the right train for Hoboken.

I remember I was with a group of friends and we were trying to decide whether we should take the train to New York and catch a ferry or PATH train from there, or take our chances in Secaucus and see if we can't get a train to Hoboken, as when a train line is down, they all are delayed and are working over time to accommodate the influx of passengers.

All in all, I tend not to experience too many adventures during my time with New Jersey Transit or during my commute. I also believe that commuting to school has greatly affected my time in high school and has helped mature me and prepare me for what is to come later in life.

I personally believe that this is an important story to tell because many high schoolers every day experience this same commute and not many people talk about it in the news, and it is a good reminder that not everyone in the U.S. gets to school the same way.

My name is Teddy Almond and I am a senior at The Hudson School, in Hoboken. I have been interested in photography for most of my life. To see more of my work, you can visit my website https://www.teddyalmondphotogr...