No progress has been made in contract talks between the New Jersey Transit Rail Labor Coalition, which consists of 11 unions representing more than 4,000 workers, and NJ Transit. A strike or lockout may occur in Mid-March, leaving tens of thousands of rail passengers without service.
A 29-year-old motorist driving with a suspended license has been charged with reckless driving and disregarding a railroad signal when he attempted to beat a New Jersey Transit commuter train at a grade crossing equipped with an active warning system in Paterson, N.J.
New Jersey Transit has appointed Dennis J. Martin as Interim Executive Director effective Dec. 28, 2015, replacing Veronique “Ronnie” Hakim, who left NJT to become President of MTA New York City Transit.
New Jersey Transit Executive Director Veronique “Ronnie” Hakim will be returning to the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority after only 18 months leading NJT. She will become President of MTA New York City Transit on Dec. 28, replacing MTA Bridges and Tunnels President James Ferrara, who has been serving as NYCT Interim President since the August 2015 retirement of Carmen Bianco.
In this series published in Railway Age‘s September, October and November 2015 issues, Contributing Editor Alfred E. Fazio examines the possibilities and engineering requirements for high- or higher-speed rail in the U.S., with emphasis on Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor, including an improvement project in New Jersey.
The fall foliage that bursts forth in the Northeastern United States is a beautiful thing to see—except when the leaves collect on railroad tracks, creating wheel slippage problems. That’s when NJ Transit deploys its AquaTrack machine to remove oily residue from fallen leaves and combat wheel slippage.
Presidential Emergency Board (PEB) 248 has issued recommendations to settle a contract dispute between New Jersey Transit and the Rail Labor Coalition of 14 unions representing 4,300 union workers that has dragged on for four years, with no end in sight and the looming possibility of a strike or lockout.
National Association of Railroad Passengers (NARP) President and CEO Jim Mathews issued a statement responding to the recent incidents that have affected intercity and commuter rail operations in the New York/New Jersey region of the Northeast Corridor. We reprint it here in its entirety, unedited:
Facing an approximate $56 million budget gap for its 2016 fiscal year, New Jersey Transit’s Board of Directors on July 15, 2105 adopted a FY2016 operating budget and capital program totaling $4.27 billion, and a fare and service plan that includes an average 9% fare increase.
CBS News legends Edward R. Murrow, Fred Friendly, Charles Kuralt and Walter Cronkite must be turning over and hurling in their graves.