TRANSIT SERVICE GUIDE — SUNDAY, OCTOBER 18
Going to Giants–Saints? Plan the ride home before kickoff.
For Rockland rail riders, Sunday's trip to MetLife means a change at Secaucus and a required wristband. The return deserves just as much attention: the final stadium shuttle is not a promise of a connection to your home station.
MetLife lists kickoff at 1 p.m. Sunday, October 18 ↗, with gates opening at 11 a.m. These are timetable-planning examples, not live departure predictions. All times below are Eastern.
Start with the temporary Sunday table
Use the Pascack Valley weekend PDF ↗ or Main/Bergen County/Port Jervis weekend PDF ↗, both effective October 11–November 14. Match that to the dated October 18 Meadowlands shuttle table ↗. Do not reuse last weekend's itinerary.
| Leave Rockland | At Secaucus | Arrive Meadowlands |
|---|---|---|
| Spring Valley 10:03 Train 2108 | Arrive 11:08; shuttle 1931 leaves 11:36 | 11:49 |
| Nanuet 10:08 Train 2108 | Arrive 11:08; shuttle 1931 leaves 11:36 | 11:49 |
| Pearl River 10:12 Train 2108 | Arrive 11:08; shuttle 1931 leaves 11:36 | 11:49 |
| Suffern 9:09 Train 1708 | Arrive 10:07; shuttle 1919 leaves 10:31 | 10:44 — before gates open |
| Sloatsburg 10:18 Train 74 | Arrive 11:12; shuttle 1931 leaves 11:36 | 11:49 |
Those pairings leave 28 minutes at Secaucus for the Pascack Valley train and 24 minutes for the Suffern and Sloatsburg examples. That is our arithmetic, not NJ Transit's minimum-connection standard or a held-train guarantee. Allow time for the wristband and platform change; choose an earlier trip if you need more margin.
Sloatsburg is a train origin in this Sunday table. The current substitute-bus advisory ↗ concerns weekday midday service west of Suffern; it does not add a Ramsey Route 17 bus transfer to this Sunday example. See our temporary-schedule explainer for the broader changes.
Buy to Meadowlands; keep the wristband
NJ Transit's event advisory ↗ recommends buying a round trip from your origin to Meadowlands Station. At Secaucus, show that ticket to receive the wristband required to board both the stadium-bound and return trains. Keep it on.
There is no direct Rockland-to-stadium train. These examples transfer at Secaucus, not New York Penn Station. A wristband bought at the stadium by someone arriving another way covers only Meadowlands–Secaucus; travel beyond Secaucus requires separate fare.
The last stadium train is not your last useful connection
NJ Transit says the final stadium train will not leave before 6:15 p.m. But its event table allows postgame departures to move earlier or later with customer volume. Do not build a tight home-line connection around a printed shuttle minute—or assume the game will be over in time.
| Home station / train | Leave Secaucus | Scheduled arrival |
|---|---|---|
| Sloatsburg / 79 | 6:23 p.m. 30-minute printed interval | 7:04 p.m. |
| Pascack Valley / 2123 | 6:31 p.m. 38-minute printed interval | Pearl River 7:23; Nanuet 7:27; Spring Valley 7:34 p.m. |
| Suffern / 1729 | 6:35 p.m. 42-minute printed interval | 7:37 p.m. |
Sloatsburg: watch the gap
The next listed Sloatsburg departure after 6:23 p.m. is 9:38 p.m., train 81, arriving 10:39 p.m. The 6:35 p.m. Suffern train does not continue to Sloatsburg. A shuttle leaving Meadowlands at the printed 6:15 p.m. reaches Secaucus at 6:28—after train 79 has left.
Later listed options are Pascack Valley train 2125 at 7:39 p.m. and Suffern train 1731 at 7:35 p.m. These are not instructions to plan a long wait. Recheck departures and platform directions before leaving the stadium; do not rely on a three- or seven-minute transfer from the printed final shuttle.
Before you leave
Check live rail alerts ↗ and elevator status ↗. If step-free access is essential, confirm your origin, transfer and destination arrangements with NJ Transit: 973-275-5555, 8:30 a.m.–5 p.m. daily. Friday's elevator listing cannot guarantee Sunday's access.
Records checked October 16, 2026, in the 10:51 p.m. EDT review. Timetable columns and the event-service footnote were visually checked. This guide does not report Sunday weather, road conditions or guaranteed connections. Live operator instructions control a new trip; these examples apply only to October 18.