The Northeast Corridor Commission’s Fiscal Year 2017 Annual Report on Operations and Infrastructure spotlights a capacity-strained passenger rail corridor in need of major investment for state-of-good repair as well as expansion and improvements.
As is the tradition in New Jersey, the state I’ve called home since birth, the incoming governor 1) trashes New Jersey Transit and 2) proceeds to “fix” everything by cleaning house and starting fresh. This political circus has been going on since the state took over a collapsing commuter rail system in the early 1980s. So what else is new?
New Jersey Transit Executive Director Steve Santoro, who has spent 18 years with the agency, submitted his resignation to New Jersey Transportation Commissioner Rick Hammer on Jan. 5. He will be leaving in April and said he is “committed to ensuring a smooth transition for the new administration” of incoming Governor Phil Murphy.
Outgoing New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and New York State Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Dec. 14 said that have agreed that their states and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey have agreed to contribute $5.55 billion toward the Gateway Program—50% of the massive project’s cost, and placing responsibility with President Donald Trump and the U.S. Department of Transportation to contribute the remaining half.
New Jersey Transit is exercising an option with Bombardier Transportation for 17 ALP-45DP dual-power locomotives, to supplement its existing 35-unit fleet.
PTSI Transportation has completed work on the application of its all-digital Route Learning System™ to NJ TRANSIT’s Newark Light Rail system, the second install of the technology on the agency’s light rail lines.
Replacement of Portal Bridge, a two-track 110-year-old swing span structure linking New Jersey and New York City on the Northeast Corridor, is under way. A recent groundbreaking ceremony marked the start of construction.
Dockets for the fatal Sept. 29, 2016, NJ Transit commuter rail collision in Hoboken, N.J., and the Jan. 4, 2017, Long Island Rail Road collision at the Atlantic Terminal, Brooklyn, New York, were opened to the public Sept. 21 by the National Transportation Safety Board as part of its ongoing investigations of the two accidents.
On Sept. 21, the same day the National Transportation Safety Board opened the docket on New Jersey Transit’s Sept. 29, 2016 Hoboken Terminal crash to the public, NJT announced it “has implemented a variety of rail safety upgrades over the past year and is looking at additional enhancements for the future, as part of its commitment to safety.”
The Gateway Program Development Corporation (GDC) is turning to the private sector to issue ideas on how to deliver the Hudson Tunnel Project.
