As for the I-78 Allentown route, technically, what you stated above is not what happened. The present day 117 (US22 , limited stop) is the vestigial remains of the old 350. Before NJT, the 350 was Public Service, the 114 was Somerset Bus. Before 1963, the 350/150 was Greyhound.

Trans-Bridge long had a franchise in New Jersey by ownership of Delaware River Coach Lines, which runs the local P-Burg-Easton service under contract to NJT. In the early 1980’s, they sought ICC authority and got access to PABT. The Raritan Line service to P-Burg and 350 to Allentown were still running. They all over-lapped for about a year. Then NJT decided to cut low density routes and the 350, which had stops along US22 east of Somerville and was no match for the new Trans-Bridge I-78 service, so it perished and became the 117. The 114 continued running to Clinton until 1993, when it became the 884 service, operated by Raritan Valley Bus, then became a corporate Wheels service contracted to Suburban Transit.

Although both LIRR and NJT do not have any ownership of tracks in Penn, NJT is the only entity that does not have any access to dispatching, which is time-shared between Amtrak and LIRR. One thing that NJT has done that neither Amtrak and LIRR have done, though, is squeeze trains into NYP that the station was not really designed to handle. (And of course, LIRR has four tunnels on their end; the second set of tunnels that NJT intends to overspend on won’t serve NYP, as we all know.)

FTR, Trans-Bridge Lines operates bus routes that used to be NJ Transit’s, e.g. the former route 350 to Allentown (route 150 originally).

And was the H&M so slow and overcrowded back when they had two more waterfront terminals to serve (PRR Exchange Place Terminal and Erie Terminal)?

NJT will not come to the operations table and figure out an operating plan for NYPS. LIRR shares tracks with the 2 railroads and has had one for decades. NJT’s lack of ownership is not a valid excuse. They don’t own PABT either, but it has an operating plan with assigned gates with the facility run far smoother inspite of Turnpike and Lincoln Tunnel disruptions.

http://capntransit.blogspot.com/search/label/penn%20station

What they should do is run service once or twice an hour between Plainfield and Elizabeth, and further east, restoring the old CNJ main east of Cranford.

Now of course, there’s no service at all. The only trains to use the Waterfront Connection in revenue service will be the “former CNJ” NJCL trains to/from Bay Head. Ah, but who cares when it’s still “full speed ahead” towards THE Boondoggle?

What NJT needs to do is drop THE Tunnel like a hot potato and concentrate on maintaining/increasing service levels to present destinations, as well as focus on intrastate service expansion in earnest.