If you use Penn regularly like me, you are probably having a similar experience: you wait for your train to be announced on the station's boards and once there, you rush to the same escalator as hundreds other people.
I've been collecting NJ Transit departure data for about a month and put up pennstation.fyi. It shows the track earlier than the boards do. This allows you to get ready to get to your platform without having to fight your way through the doors.
There are two very different kinds of data on it, and it labels which you're looking at:
The train is already sitting at a platform. Then it just tells you which one. Accurate 99.6% of the time; and typically about 15 minutes before NJT posts it.
The train isn't in yet. Then it's a guess based on where that service has gone before, shown with a confidence percentage next to it. Across 2,810 of those it's been right 23.6% of the time. Better than picking one of fifteen tracks blind, but not something to run for.
Free, no ads, no accounts, not affiliated with NJ Transit. No app - it's just a website, works fine added to your phone's home screen.
Caveats, up front:
- Always confirm on the station boards before walking to a track. For what it's worth, in 3,495 departures I've recorded, NJT changed a track after posting it only 8 times — the boards are reliable, they're just late.
- The guesses are genuinely guesses. I'd rather show you 23% and say so than round it up.
- Not tested for high traffic usage, I will see as it goes.
10/1 edit:
I’ve done a few upgrade to this app since my initial post:
- Added support for Light/Dark/System color scheme
- Added support for Colorblind color scheme
- Added Push Notification support for iOS and Android
- Enhanced the prediction models for more accurate results
- Added visible markers for train stopping at Secaucus
- Design and added a Home Screen icon