New Jersey Transit announced Monday that several Tuesday morning commute trains would be canceled while the agency works on the positive train control safety system installation.
Northeast Corridor train No. 3832, the 9:12 a.m. from Trenton will be canceled. Customers may use train No. 3834, the 9:52 a.m. from Trenton.
Morris & Essex line train No. 607, the 6:15 a.m. from Hoboken will be canceled. Customers may use the No. 211 train, the 6:38 a.m. from Hoboken and the No. 6607 train, the 7:07 a.m. from New York Penn Station.
Morris & Essex line train No. 6624, the 8:08 a.m. from Dover will be canceled. Customers may use train No. 6628, the 9:06 a.m. from Dover.
Montclair-Boonton line train No. 209, the 6:12 a.m. from Hoboken will be canceled. Customers may use train No. 211, the 6:38 a.m. from Hoboken.
Montclair-Boonton line train No. 208, the 7:10 a.m. from Montclair State will be canceled. Customers may use train No. 6210, the 7:17 a.m. from Montclair State and transfer at Newark Broad Street to train No. 1002, the 8 a.m. to Hoboken.
NJ Transit has been under the microscope lately due to the amount of trains canceled without warning due to unexcused engineer absences and PTC installation.
Gov. Phil Murphy blamed the Christie administration for neglecting to fund the agency, thus causing a shortage in staff.
But some Republican lawmakers say that they have an issue with Murphy’s words. Senate Republican Leader Tom Kean Jr. says that it is time for state lawmakers to work together to address the engineer shortage.
"We've got to look forward. The commuters can't wait one more day to find a solution,” Kean says. “What people are seeing…is you've got a personnel problem at New Jersey Transit that's rippled into a statewide transportation breakdown. And we've got to focus on the short-term policies that will fix this problem, as well as the long-term."
Murphy has admitted that he underestimated the extent of NJ Transit's problems. He says that he promises to put commuters first.