[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":170},["ShallowReactive",2],{"blog-\u002Fblog\u002F2026\u002F09\u002F17\u002Fpenn-station-track-predictions":3},{"id":4,"title":5,"body":6,"category":155,"date":156,"description":157,"draft":158,"extension":159,"image":160,"meta":163,"navigation":164,"path":165,"seo":166,"stem":167,"updated":168,"__hash__":169},"blog\u002Fblog\u002F2026-09-17-penn-station-track-predictions.md","See Your Penn Station Track Before It's Posted",{"type":7,"value":8,"toc":147},"minimark",[9,13,21,26,33,52,58,72,76,79,99,105,109,120,123,127,135],[10,11,12],"p",{},"If you've ever caught a train home from New York Penn, you know the routine. You crowd into the waiting area, eyes focused on the departure board, waiting for your track to show up.\nNJ Transit usually posts it just minutes before departure, and then the whole crowd rushes for the same stairs. Standing in front of the wrong staircase? Good luck getting a seat.",[10,14,15,16,20],{},"With NJ Tracks, you can get a head start. ",[17,18,19],"strong",{},"About 20 minutes before your train leaves New York Penn, NJ Tracks shows the track it will most likely depart from."," That's typically about 10 minutes before the track is posted.\nIn our testing, it put riders on the right platform more than 19 times out of 20. It's still a prediction, so confirm before you head down to the platform.",[22,23,25],"h2",{"id":24},"what-youll-see","What you'll see",[10,27,28,29,32],{},"Open a commute departing from New York Penn. If NJ Transit hasn't posted a track yet, you may see a badge with a ",[17,30,31],{},"dashed outline"," and a small \"predicted\" label, right where the track number normally goes.",[34,35,36,43,49],"ul",{},[37,38,39,42],"li",{},[17,40,41],{},"A single number, like \"3\"",", means we're confident about the exact track.",[37,44,45,48],{},[17,46,47],{},"A pair, like \"11-12\"",", means we're confident about the platform but not which side of it. Let's be honest — the right platform is all that matters anyway.",[37,50,51],{},"Tap the badge to see what the prediction is based on and how confident it is.",[10,53,54,55],{},"As soon as NJ Transit posts the track, the prediction disappears and the official track takes its place. ",[17,56,57],{},"The official track always takes precedence.",[59,60,61],"screenshots",{},[10,62,63,68],{},[64,65],"img",{"alt":66,"src":67},"New York Penn to Secaucus departures: the next train shows its posted track, and the two after it show predicted tracks 3 and 14","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fpenn-station-track-predictions\u002Fboard.png",[64,69],{"alt":70,"src":71},"Tapping the badge explains the prediction is based on where the train was detected in the station, with 99% confidence","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fpenn-station-track-predictions\u002Fdetail.png",[22,73,75],{"id":74},"how-accurate-is-it","How accurate is it?",[10,77,78],{},"We replayed our prediction model against a month of real departures from New York Penn (August 7 to September 5, 2026, more than 3,600 trains), scoring each prediction exactly as it would have appeared in the app. Here's what we found:",[34,80,81,87,93],{},[37,82,83,86],{},[17,84,85],{},"It put riders on the right platform more than 19 times out of 20",", including during weekday evening rush (4–7pm).",[37,88,89,92],{},[17,90,91],{},"About 4 in 5 departures"," got a prediction before NJ Transit posted the track (about 3 in 4 at evening rush).",[37,94,95,98],{},[17,96,97],{},"High-confidence predictions are almost never wrong."," They make up the large majority of what you'll see, and they pointed to the right platform nearly every time.",[10,100,101,102],{},"Predictions are still predictions. NJ Transit can change equipment or tracks at the last minute, so ",[17,103,104],{},"always confirm your track before boarding.",[22,106,108],{"id":107},"think-you-can-do-better","Think you can do better?",[10,110,111,112,119],{},"We'd love to see it. We publish historical NJ Transit track assignments at New York Penn, going back to April 2023, as an open dataset on Hugging Face:\n",[113,114,118],"a",{"href":115,"rel":116},"https:\u002F\u002Fhuggingface.co\u002Fdatasets\u002Fnjtracks\u002Fpenn-station-departures",[117],"nofollow","njtracks\u002Fpenn-station-departures",".",[10,121,122],{},"It's free to use under the Open Database License. If you build a model that predicts tracks better or earlier than ours, get in touch.\nWe'd love to collaborate.",[22,124,126],{"id":125},"try-it-today","Try it today",[10,128,129,130,119],{},"Track predictions are available now in NJ Tracks for iOS and Android. Update the app, pick a New York Penn-based commute, and let us know how it works! Find us on X at ",[113,131,134],{"href":132,"rel":133},"https:\u002F\u002Fx.com\u002Fnj_tracks",[117],"@nj_tracks",[10,136,137],{},[138,139,140,141,146],"em",{},"Schedule and real-time data courtesy of ",[113,142,145],{"href":143,"rel":144},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.njtransit.com",[117],"NJ Transit",". NJ Tracks is not affiliated with or endorsed by NJ Transit.",{"title":148,"searchDepth":149,"depth":149,"links":150},"",2,[151,152,153,154],{"id":24,"depth":149,"text":25},{"id":74,"depth":149,"text":75},{"id":107,"depth":149,"text":108},{"id":125,"depth":149,"text":126},"announcement","2026-09-17","NJ Tracks now predicts your NJ Transit departure track at New York Penn about 10 minutes before it's posted, and it picks the right platform more than 19 times out of 20.",false,"md",{"src":161,"alt":162},"\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fpenn-station-track-predictions\u002Fhero.png","NJ Tracks departures from New York Penn to Secaucus, showing a posted track 1 for the next train and a predicted track 3 for the train after it",{},true,"\u002Fblog\u002F2026\u002F09\u002F17\u002Fpenn-station-track-predictions",{"title":5,"description":157},"blog\u002F2026-09-17-penn-station-track-predictions",null,"9EutosfGnYzHRzaDNHh2dSFidFOtIyYifg-ffn3Zwow",1789617765246]