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(rshsdepot) Metuchen, NJ



Via Bernie Wagenblast...

Metuchen Train Station to Offer Concierge Service to Commuters
Home News Tribune

Aug. 7--METUCHEN, N.J.--Rail commuters this fall will be able to have their
laundry done, movie rentals returned, car oil changed and flowers ordered by
the end of their work day -- without ever having to set foot into a store.
That's because they will be able to have someone do it for them, for a small
fee, through Metuchen train station's new concierge service, scheduled to
begin next month.

Construction started yesterday on two concierge stations, formerly old
ticket booths, one each in the westbound and eastbound sides of the station.

Metuchen, through the borough's Chamber of Commerce and NJ Transit, will be
the second New Jersey municipality to offer such services to commuters. The
first was Maplewood, and Westfield is creating its own concierge service.

"I think it's going to provide Metuchen riders with an invaluable asset to
make their day, their week much easier for them," said Mayor Edmund O'Brien.
"We're one of the more heavily traveled stations along the Northeast
Corridor (rail) line."

Out of NJ Transit's 62 train stations, Metuchen is the seventh busiest
outlying station in the state, said Jeff Warsh, executive director for NJ
Transit.

Metuchen has 3,237 riders per day. The other Middlesex County train stations
include Metropark in Woodbridge with 5,800; followed by New Brunswick with
4,400 and Edison with 2,300, Warsh said.

"You start off with an acknowledgment that a rail station is one of the
centers of a community; then you go further and understand that Monday
through Friday for a commuter doesn't leave a whole lot of time for people"
to get errands done, Warsh said.

In Maplewood, commuters can have their tires rotated, prescriptions filled,
shoes repaired and cars inspected. Hardware, pet and packaging companies
also are in the program, which started in the Essex County municipality in
June 1998.
Metuchen will offer commuters similar services for which they will be
charged an extra 10 percent.

The newest service may include ticket sales for Broadway shows, concerts and
other events, as well as a delivery service at home through a taxi company,
said Dottie Winhold, Metuchen Chamber of Commerce member and acting
president of the concierge company.

"The train rider doesn't have to make stops with his car to pick up his
Chinese food or his dinner" after work, therefore decreasing traffic on
local roads, Winhold said.

NJ Transit awarded Metuchen a $35,000 grant to help start the program.

"It (concierge service) makes Metuchen even more desirable than it is now,"
Winhold said.

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End of RSHSDepot Digest V1 #128
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