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State lawmakers plan investigation in NJ Transit's 'failures'

New Jersey lawmakers are launching an investigation into the state's beleaguered transit system.

News 12 Staff

Oct 1, 2019, 10:29 PM

Updated 1,891 days ago

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New Jersey lawmakers are launching an investigation into the state's beleaguered transit system.
Democratic Senate President Steve Sweeney said in a statement Tuesday he's setting up a committee to probe the agency over "continued failures and to develop an action plan to turn around the embattled agency."
NJ Transit spokeswoman Nancy Snyder said in an email the agency looks forward to working with the Legislature, and it shares "the common goal" of safe, reliable service.
Passengers endured frequent train cancellations dating back to last year, when the agency scrambled to meet a year-end deadline for installing a federally mandated emergency braking system.
Cancellations have continued this year.
Much of the blame lies in an engineer shortage, which officials blame on years of under-investment by former Republican Gov. Chris Christie.
Gov. Phil Murphy also supports the investigation.
A spokesperson for the governor’s office says in a statement, "We welcome the Legislature's scrutiny and look forward to the discussion of their budgets that were negotiated with Gov. Christie and sent to his desk, which reduced state funding to the agency by as much as 90%.”
The Associated Press wire services contributed to this report.