Murphy: NJ Transit meets safety equipment deadline

Gov. Phil Murphy says New Jersey Transit has met a federal deadline to install an emergency braking system on its rails.

The governor said Monday that the transit agency has made enough progress on outfitting locomotives, rail cars and tracks with positive train control to qualify for a two-year extension.

Over 280 engines and train cars now have the PTC technology installed. This is 100 percent of the amount required by the end of 2018. NJ Transit now has until the end of 2020 to conduct live testing of the system.

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“Approximately four years of work has been completed in less than one,” Murphy said at an event in Kearny. “There is still more work to be done to have PTC fully operational…There are more hills to climb, but we’ve just climbed by car the biggest.”

Despite meeting the equipment installation requirements, the agency still has some nearly 1,000 workers to train. Around 800 have been trained so far.

The project caused schedule cutbacks and delays as rail cars were taken out of service to be outfitted with the safety equipment.

NJ Transit has said regular service could resume next month.

The Associated Press wire services contributed to this report.