I attend Friday’s U.S. Open tennis match in Flushing Meadows (Queens), which increased my East Coast Liberal Elitism a step forward (gift baskets arriving soon!) by not only watching Tennis but also taking the SUPERTRAIN to the game. The USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows is a very nice facility, but it is nowhere close to where I live or work. Luckily it is served by both the 7 Train and the Long Island Railroad. The LIRR isn’t quite the SUPERTRAIN but the trip was only 12 minutes, considerably shorter then the estimated 90 minutes by subway. That is SUPER enough for me.

This trip underscored how many parts of the SUPERTRAIN experience need to be operating in top form in order to provide a smooth, stress-free trip. Not only do you need efficient transportation at both departing and arriving stops, but you need logical path of travel in both departing and arriving stations so that you can make your 7:04 train. This includes clear signage throughout your journey, especially at stations, not to mention clear announcements of station stops.

LIRR fails (Epic Transit Fail) spectacularly when it comes to Penn Station, or what remains of Penn Station. A multi-modal station which was destroyed in order to build an sub-urban basketball arena, what’s left is a rabbit-worn maze of 9′-0″ high corridors. Exasperating the situation is that there are, at minimum, three waiting areas: one each for LIRR, Amtrak and NJ Transit. There is no central waiting room such as at Grand Central (not to mention a lack of any celebration of entry or exit which arriving and departing at Grand Central) and the station spans two floors (not counting the track level).

Penn Station is perhaps the only major urban station which treats its passenger’s in such a manner. We can only hope that the future Moynihan Station will wiggle free from the current logjam and Penn Station will again be a dignified entry to New York City.