Trains, Towns, and the Truth: A Real Guide to Commuting from Millburn, Short Hills, Maplewood, South Orange, Summit, and Montclair

The Commuter’s Honest Guide to NJ Transit: A Town-by-Town Breakdown for the Northern NJ Rail Rider

Let’s get one thing straight. Nobody moves to Northern New Jersey because they are excited about their commute. They move for the schools, the housing stock, the tree-lined streets, the farmers markets, the sense that they have figured out some version of the good life that does not require choosing between a decent backyard and a reasonable mortgage. The commute is the trade-off. The toll. The price of admission.

The reality is some commutes are genuinely fine. Some are even pleasant. And a few are the kind of thing that, after a few months of practice, you will describe to your city friends with something that sounds suspiciously like pride.

This is the honest guide. Town by town. No spin.

Millburn | Morris & Essex Line

Millburn station sits right in the heart of town, which means on a good morning you can walk from your front door to the platform, coffee in hand, feeling like a person who has their life together. 

The Morris and Essex line runs express trains into Penn Station that clock in around 40 minutes on a good day, which in Northern NJ commuter terms is practically a standing ovation.

The station itself is tidy and functional. There is a parking situation, as there is everywhere, but Millburn has done a reasonable job managing it. 

The town has also invested in the area around the station, so even waiting for a delayed train does not feel punishing. You are steps from downtown, with coffee shops and restaurants nearby for the days when you just cannot face the platform yet.

Verdict: One of the smoother rides on the line. Millburn commuters tend to wear a quiet, knowing satisfaction that is completely justified.

Short Hills | Morris & Essex Line

Short Hills station is a short drive or a walkable distance from much of the Short Hills neighborhood, depending on exactly where you are coming from. 

It shares the Morris and Essex line with Millburn, meaning express service into Penn Station and similar travel times. On paper, the commute stats are nearly identical to its neighbor down the road.

What makes Short Hills worth noting separately is the experience around the station. It is quieter, more residential, and has a slightly removed quality that some commuters love and others find a little sleepy in the early morning rush. 

If you are someone who prefers a calm platform over a bustling one, this is your stop.

Parking fills up, as it does everywhere worth living. Plan accordingly, or make friends with a neighbor who walks.

Verdict: Calm, reliable, and quietly efficient. The Short Hills commuter is not showing off. They simply know what they have.

Maplewood | Morris & Essex Line

Maplewood has become one of the most sought-after towns in Essex County over the past decade, and its train station has played no small role in that story. 

The Morris and Essex line delivers express service into Penn Station in roughly 40 to 45 minutes, and the station sits at the edge of a downtown that has only gotten better with age.

The Maplewood commuter has a particular personality. There is a good chance they are carrying a reusable tote, have a strong opinion about the local coffee options, and will happily tell you this is the best commuter town in New Jersey if you give them half a chance. They are not entirely wrong.

What makes Maplewood work is the whole ecosystem around the commute. The walk to the station is pleasant. The downtown gives you somewhere to be in the evening when the train drops you back. 

The platform crowd tends to be convivial. Some regulars have been sharing the same train car for a decade and have the easy camaraderie to prove it.

Verdict: The commute is good. The lifestyle wrapped around it is even better. Maplewood makes the daily grind feel a little less grindy.

South Orange | Morris & Essex Line

South Orange is Maplewood’s next-door neighbor and, in many ways, its kindred spirit. 

The train station anchors a charming village center, and the Morris and Essex line puts Penn Station around 45 minutes away on express service. 

The bones of the commute are essentially the same as Maplewood, with similarly devoted riders who will enthusiastically defend their town’s honor.

What South Orange adds to the equation is a college-town energy courtesy of Seton Hall University, which gives the downtown a little extra life and keeps the local restaurant and bar scene more varied than you might expect from a commuter suburb. 

The platform crowd skews eclectic. You will find professors and bankers waiting for the same 7:52.

Parking at the station fills up on the early side. The town has a permit system, and sorting that out sooner rather than later is strongly advised.

Verdict: Characterful, connected, and genuinely fun to come home to. South Orange commuters have figured out that the train ride is just the beginning of the evening, not the end of it.

Summit | Morris & Essex Line

Summit is, by almost any measure, the gold standard of Northern NJ commuter towns. 

It sits at a junction on the Morris and Essex line where both the Morristown and Gladstone branches meet before heading into the city, which means train frequency is excellent and the options are plentiful. 

Express trains into Penn Station run around 45 to 55 minutes depending on the service.

The station itself is one of the nicer ones on the line, set against a downtown that is both walkable and genuinely lovely. 

Summit has the rare quality of feeling complete, like a town that does not need anything else to be what it already is. 

The commuters here tend to be well-organized, deeply habituated to their routines, and mildly smug in a way that is almost endearing.

There is a reason Summit keeps showing up on every “best places to live in New Jersey” list. The commute is a big part of that reason, but it is the combination of the commute with everything else that makes it stick.

Verdict: Hard to beat. If the commute is your top priority, start your house search here and work outward.

Montclair | Montclair-Boonton Line (and Friends)

Montclair deserves its own category, not just because it is a singular town with a singular personality, but because it has six train stations. Six. 

While most towns are managing a single platform and a parking permit waitlist, Montclair has built an entire rail network within its own borders.

Bay Street, Watchung Avenue, Walnut Street, Montclair State University, Upper Montclair, and Mountain Avenue stations are spread across the length of town, each serving slightly different neighborhoods and offering different flavors of the same commute. 

Bay Street, closest to downtown, is the busiest and most central. Upper Montclair has a more residential, tucked-away feel. Montclair State serves the university corridor and can be lively in a collegiate sort of way.

The Montclair-Boonton line connects into New York Penn Station via a one-seat ride, with travel times generally landing between 45 and 60 minutes depending on your specific station and service. 

There is also the option to connect at Newark Broad Street or Newark Penn for faster access, which savvy commuters use strategically.

What makes Montclair fascinating is that the six stations actually change how people live in the town. 

Residents often choose their neighborhood partly based on which station is closest, creating micro-communities clustered around each platform. It is the only town in Northern NJ where “which station do you use?” is a genuine conversation starter at a dinner party.

Add in the arts scene, the restaurant density, the farmers market, the independent bookstores, and the particular Montclair pride that its residents carry like a badge, and you have a commuter town that barely feels like one.

Verdict: Complex, characterful, and completely its own thing. Montclair does not just offer a commute. It offers a whole identity.

A Few Universal Truths for the NJ Transit Rider

Regardless of which town you land in, a few things hold across the board.

The 7:47 or whatever your local equivalent is will become the most important number in your life. You will know it the way you know your own birthday.

Delays happen. They happen with enough regularity that the experienced commuter builds a buffer into every plan. 

The inexperienced commuter learns this the hard way, usually before something important.

The quiet car is a social contract, not a suggestion. Respect it and you will be respected in return.

A good book, a good podcast, or a genuinely good playlist transforms the whole experience. The commuters who thrive are the ones who have decided the train is their time, not stolen time.

And finally: the conductor who works the morning express has almost certainly heard every excuse. Just buy the ticket.