Eight members of New Jersey’s House delegation urged the U.S. Department of Transportation to deploy federal infrastructure funds to make urgent upgrades to tracks and overhead wires that have snarled trains in a letter to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg Friday.
The letter, which follows one sent last month that demanded an investigation into breakdowns along railways owned by Amtrak but used by NJ Transit trains, came after another set of overhead wire issues forced a series of cancellations on Sunday.
“For many New Jerseyans, their commutes were delayed for the third or fourth time just in the past month. Thousands of our constituents are undoubtedly questioning if commuting by train to work or for leisure is even worth it at this point, which will only worsen congestion on our roads and pollution in our communities if not addressed,” the letter says.
Trains along the northeast corridor, the country’s busiest commuter rail line, have faced repeated cancellations and delays over the past month.
In June, only 83% of NJ Transit trains arrived at stations within six minutes of their scheduled time, the worst performance for a month recorded by the agency since at least July 2022, according to a monthly agency report.
The eight Democratic lawmakers — Reps. Mikie Sherrill, Donald Norcross, Bonnie Watson Coleman, Frank Pallone, Josh Gottheimer, Bill Pascrell, Andy Kim, and Rob Menendez — asked Buttigieg to ensure that Amtrak provides a schedule of how it plans to use funds from the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law to make repairs to the New Jersey portions of the northeast corridor.
They added that more needs to be done to keep commuters apprised of delays and cancellations.
“We ask that you urgently outline a plan to keep commuters fully informed of planned and unplanned disruptions,” they said in the letter.
— Nikita Biryukov
This article was published by the New Jersey Monitor and is republished here with permission. Click here to view the original.
