U.S. Reps. Rob Menendez (D-8), Mikie Sherrill (D-11), and Frank Pallone (D-6) led a letter to U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg about the recent failures by NJ Transit and Amtrak.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“Last month, New Jersey families who depend on reliable and accessible passenger rail service to make ends meet and support their loved ones were forced to endure six hour-plus delays on their NJ TRANSIT commutes due to breakdowns on Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor route,” the letter says.
“Over just two days, more than 130 NJ TRANSIT trains were canceled or delayed due to circuit breaker and overhead wiring malfunctions on the New York City to Philadelphia section of Amtrak tracks. This was especially frustrating because NJ TRANSIT is merely a tenant on Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor and is therefore unable to direct repairs on Amtrak property to get its own trains running again.”
The letter, also signed by U.S. Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-5), Andy Kim (D-3), Donald Norcross (D-1), Bill Pascrell (D-9), and Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-12), also pointed out that Amtrak disruptions let to delays for NJ Transit customers 19 times in May and June.
Last month, Menendez called on Buttigieg to hold Amtrak accountable for these delays during a House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Hearing.
“For thousands of NJ TRANSIT commuters, they walk out the door each day not knowing if they’ll make it home on time because of these failures in our public transportation system,” he said in a statement.
“It’s critical that the Department of Transportation and Amtrak take this crisis seriously, and I look forward to partnering with them to solve these critical issues.”
Furthermore, in the letter, the Democratic members of New Jersey’s House delegation urged the Department of Transportation to come up with a plan as soon as possible.
“We request that the Department of Transportation have Amtrak provide a schedule regarding how it intends to spend the funds appropriated for state-of-good-repair on New Jersey’s portion of the Northeast Corridor in order to address the breakdowns and malfunctions that are compromising Amtrak and NJ TRANSIT’s ability to provide passenger rail service that functions consistently, reliably, and accountably,” they wrote.
“We also believe more must be done in the interim to inform riders about outage plans, repairs, and other improvements affecting their daily commute. We ask that you urgently outline a plan to keep commuters fully informed of planned and unplanned disruptions.”
