Governor Murphy meets again with Amtrak, NJ Transit after more nightmare commutes

NEWARK, N.J. (PIX11) — Recent painful commute delays along the Northeast Corridor were repeated labeled “unacceptable” by Governor Phil Murphy and other officials during a briefing on Thursday in Newark.

“The service has been unacceptable, that is a unanimous opinion,” said Murphy (D-New Jersey). “The commitment, the absolute commitment to both organizations from our office and me personally is to get stuff fixed.”

In a news release, Amtrak and NJ Transit unveiled a joint plan to accelerate the investigation of the recent commute disruptions, which include more frequent inspections of catenary wires – a common culprit of delays.

The full list of immediate actions from Amtrak and NJ Transit include:

• Additional extensive and frequent catenary and track inspections of the approximately 170 track miles between Trenton and New York City to identify any catenary issues that could cause pantograph damage.
• NJ TRANSIT with Amtrak assistance is undertaking visual inspections of all pantographs at key stations and NJ TRANSIT has installed high-resolution cameras to inspect pantographs.
• Externally supported reviews with industry experts to assist root cause analysis and development of solutions.
• Expansion of the helicopter catenary inspection and repair program, which involves taking high-resolution photos of the system, each catenary structure, and their components. The photos are inspected offline to identify priority items for repair.
• A joint review of Amtrak and NJ TRANSIT delays and items impacting reliability, which will result in a prioritized set of investments to address sources of chronic delays.
• Additional longer-term actions to address state of good repair of Amtrak infrastructure, including added resources to expedite testing of transformers in substations; pursuing additional grants to replace catenary, substations and transmission, and signal lines, as well as support capital renewal; and evaluating methods to expand overnight work windows with service adjustments to accelerate renewal and repairs. (Courtesy: Amtrak/NJ Transit)

“A passenger when they’re paying fare to go A to B, they just want to get home, they want to get to work,” said NJ Transit CEO Kevin Corbett. “They don’t care whose fault it is.”

Officials pointed to the work being done in projects like the Portal North Bridge. Set to open in 2026, officials say it will replace about 3 and a half miles of catenary between Newark and New York Penn Station.

“Between all the projects that we’ve started, the Hudson Tunnel Project, etc., as the Governor mentioned, you’re going to replace essentially the entirety of this system between Newark and [New York] Penn where the tracks narrow down to two tracks, and we are now focused on building a four-track reliable railroad,” said Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner.

“If one third of the catenary that causes these disruptions potentially is going to be replaced as part of the Portal Bridge that’s going to be done in a year and a half, that clearly should give people hope and reason to believe that we are getting to a better place,” said Amtrak Board Chair Tony Coscia. “No excuse for not delivering it today, I agree with that completely. But there really needs to be a sense of acknowledgment that the people in charge of these assets recognize it has to be done and are in fact getting it done”.

NJ Transit fares are set to increase by 15 percent on Monday.

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