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Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system

Posted by Gold_12TH on Sat Aug 11 16:55:32 2012

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NJ Transit riders have endured thousands of delays over the past decade on Manhattan-bound trains that were caused by failing cars, competition for track space, and a lack of funding to keep the heavily used rail lines known as the Northeast Corridor in a state of good repair, an analysis shows.

And even as NJ Transit has improved its on-time performance on the corridor and other lines, including the Bergen/Main and Pascack Valley, the corridor — owned by Amtrak — has remained the problem child of a system dependent on it for access to New York City.

“It’s a very common occurrence even to this day to hear [train conductors] say there are delays because of signal problems,” said James McCrane, who commutes into Newark on the corridor. “When you engage some of their people, they will cite Amtrak as a problem because those are Amtrak lines. You hear grumbling from the conductors.

“Getting into the city, there is invariably a delay,” he said.

The corridor runs from Washington to Boston, but the stretch that concerns New Jersey commuters is the 70 miles between Morrisville, Pa., and the Sunnyside rail yard in Queens. That portion handles one of five NJ Transit trains but in some years has accounted for as much as 32 percent of the delays systemwide, an analysis by The Record of operating records from 2002 to 2012 shows.

Officials blame funding. A look at the numbers tells the story.

While NJ Transit sends Amtrak about $70 million a year to cover operating costs, like electricity, for running commuter trains on the corridor each day, NJ Transit’s contribution to funding that targets capital projects sits near 1996 levels.

This past year, under a joint program in which Amtrak and NJ Transit contribute matching dollars to pay for corridor projects, $55 million was spent on replacing wood ties, improving the ventilation system in the East River tunnels and power system upgrades in Metuchen, among other projects. In 1996, $50 million was spent.

What has increased, though, are the number of NJ Transit trains operating on the corridor. Over the past decade, trains have jumped from 30,697 in 2002, to 41,579 last year, according to agency figures.

Stephen Gardner, who oversees Amtrak’s investment on the Northeast Corridor, said Amtrak, which relies on Congress for the majority of its funding, inherited a railroad that was “in very bad shape.” And while improvements have been made, he said the system has not received any significant funding increases from Congress since 1976.

“We have 100-year-old bridges that need to be replaced,” Gardner said. “Much of the original installation is at the end of its useful life. It’s not that it’s unsafe, but it means it’s not as reliable, and it’s quite expensive to maintain.”

Systemwide, NJ Transit had an on-time performance rate close to 95 percent last year. But that has done little to mollify commuters who, in a customer service survey from February and March, gave the agency middling grades — a 5.3 out of 10. The corridor received a lower score, 5.

The concentration of delays during the morning commute on the corridor hints at the source of their dissatisfaction.

The Record analysis showed that while the number of late or canceled trains on the overall system has dropped in recent years, morning rush-hour commuters saw a spike in late or no-show trains — from 2,642 in 2010, to 3,600 in 2011. NJ Transit counts trains as late if they arrive six minutes or more behind schedule.

Data also show delays are disproportionately high on the Northeast Corridor, where in some winter months, 20 to 30 percent of trains are late. So far this year, delay rates on all but the Atlantic City lines are down. Good weather was a factor, officials say.

Martin Robins, director emeritus of the Voorhees Transportation Center at Rutgers University, called the morning commute a “very sensitive time.”

“If something does go wrong, opposed to 2 in the afternoon, it’s much more noticeable and can create an impression of poor service,” said Robins, a deputy executive director at NJ Transit in the 1980s. “You have the most people using the corridor and that has a reverberating effect because of its own trains, and the service that feeds into it.”

While the Northeast Corridor is plagued by aging systems, data show problems with railcars and locomotives — like stuck brakes, breakdowns and jammed doors — are the leading cause for delays.

In May of last year, for instance, stuck brakes resulted in a 34-minute delay for New York-bound riders. Two months later, a damaged pantograph — the piece of equipment that connects to the overhead electrical lines — forced NJ Transit to cancel a midday train out of Newark Penn Station, records show.

Data also showed:

---The Northeast Corridor line had the worst on-time performance (91.7 percent), while the Main/Bergen and Pascack Valley lines had the best (97.4 and 97.5 percent, respectively).

---One of 12 morning rush-hour trains were delayed, compared with one of 18 for the afternoon rush hour and one of 24 in off-peak hours.

---Problems with broken or failing cars and infrastructure caused about half the transit system’s delays, with another 20 to 25 percent a year resulting from problems caused by the passengers and the public. Human error by transit workers accounts for 7 to 10 percent of the delays each year.


Just this week, NJ Transit was forced to evacuate a Spring Valley-bound train out of Hoboken when fumes flowed into railcars, sickening passengers and crew members.

John Durso Jr., spokesman for NJ Transit, said many of the mechanical problems occur on older railcars that the agency has been replacing over time with its more popular, more reliable multilevel cars. Among its 1,068 cars, more than 200 are models known as Arrow III, which were built in the 1970s.

Durso said delays caused by problems with passenger cars have declined as the older models are phased out.

Other delays can occur when NJ Transit and Amtrak trains compete for a spot on the Northeast Corridor. Amtrak controls the order in which trains are dispatched along the corridor, and NJ Transit officials are often annoyed when their trains are made late by Amtrak’s giving preference to its own trains.

“It’s seen as a problem,” said Kevin O’Connor, general manager for NJ Transit’s rail division. “Why should an NJ Transit train that is on time be held back for an Amtrak train?”

An Amtrak spokesman, Cliff Cole, said Amtrak dispatches trains based on multiple factors, including weather, available track space and scheduling. There are instances in which NJ Transit trains are given preference, he said.

But it is the aging systems on the Northeast Corridor that have most often disrupted service for customers and been a source of tension between NJ Transit and Amtrak. Officials at both organizations agree the system is in need of repair. But which agency should bear the burden is less clear.

One great weakness, Amtrak’s Gardner said, is the system that supplies power to the signals. Another is the Portal Bridge, a 100-year-old swing-span that carries Amtrak and NJ Transit trains over the Hackensack River in Secaucus and often becomes stuck in the open position, preventing trains from passing.

Portal Bridge’s failures accounted for roughly 75 NJ Transit delays last year, data show.

“The bridge is antiquated and obsolete by any measurable standard,” Durso said. “Not only does the bridge not permit trains to travel at full speed, but the opening of the bridge for boat traffic during the morning or evening rush — even for 10 minutes — can have a dramatic ripple effect resulting in significant delays for customers who utilize the Northeast Corridor.”

NJ Transit and Amtrak in 1996 started the joint benefit program — a pot of money into which each agency would contribute matching dollars to pay for infrastructure maintenance on the corridor. For the first five years, each agency kicked in $25 million. Those contributions climbed to $55.5 million each in 2007. But by last year, funding had returned to earlier levels; each agency put in $27.5 million.

Amtrak’s contribution to the joint benefit program is in addition to its own capital investment in New Jersey’s section of the corridor, which officials have not disclosed.

The joint contributions, NJ Transit’s O’Connor said, are for maintenance on the system. “That’s not state of good repair and that’s two different things,” he said. “The amount of money we put into [the corridor] would have to be significantly higher.”

While O’Connor declined to say how much it would cost to return the line to a state of good repair, NJ Transit Executive Director Jim Weinstein has said it would take billions.

“There are a number of priorities in the agency overall, with regard to its capital expenditure,” said David Dieck, NJ Transit’s director of rail contracts. “Some of it is new equipment acquisition.”

O’Connor pointed out that since 2004, NJ Transit has invested additional millions of dollars in projects along the Northeast Corridor, including a $79 million rehabilitation of the Trenton Transit Center in 2005, a $44 million platform replacement project in Metuchen in 2009 and $2.5 million for an elevator tower project in New Brunswick in 2010.

Durso said that through the program, NJ Transit has since 2004 invested $328 million “to support service on a railroad we do not own and we do not control.”

Cole said Amtrak does not believe ownership of the corridor is a relevant issue, and some critics agree.

Joseph Cliff, a former director of planning for the Long Island Rail Road, who regularly attends NJ Transit board meetings, has been pressing NJ Transit to invest at least $50 million more in the corridor each year, an expense he said is justified by NJ Transit’s heavy use.

“If you live in an apartment building and something breaks down, you worry about that,” he said.

Some relief could come from a $450 million high-speed-rail grant the U.S. Department of Transportation awarded Amtrak last year to fix the corridor between New Brunswick and Trenton. It will be used to upgrade electrical power, signal systems, track and overhead wires.

Officials at both agencies say talks have occurred between Wein­stein and Amtrak President Joseph Board­man about funding, but no promises have been made.

Joshua Crandall, founder of Clever Commute, a digital media service that allows commuters to alert each other to commuting conditions — from mechanical breakdowns to crawling trains, said NJ Transit riders struggle with the system.

“People on the corridor are generally having a hard time,” said Crandall.

Crandall said those commuters don’t care who owns the line, they just want to reach their destination on time.

But delays aren’t their only issue, he said. They’re vexed by poor seating, a lack of air conditioning or platform problems, he said.

“We are customers of NJ Transit,” he said. “The buck has to stop with them.”

----http://www.northjersey.com/news/bergen/Lack_for_funds_for_repairs_clogs_busy_NJ_Transit_rail_system.html?page=all

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(1171804)

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Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system

Posted by SelkirkTMO on Sat Aug 11 17:14:35 2012, in response to Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system, posted by Gold_12TH on Sat Aug 11 16:55:32 2012.

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Maybe their governor should have gone for a little more railroad.

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Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system

Posted by WillD on Sat Aug 11 18:21:36 2012, in response to Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system, posted by Gold_12TH on Sat Aug 11 16:55:32 2012.

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What's that? I thought the fools here told us that ARC was holding NJT back from having every project their little foamer hearts desired and that all would be well if we could just get rid of that project. Now we have no ARC and yet not one of the projects they claimed would be built has any funding allocated, AND NJT has a maintenance backlog even as Chrisco blew through the ARC money on our roads? It's almost as if the foamers never had the slightest clue in the first place.

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(1171810)

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Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system

Posted by RockParkMan on Sat Aug 11 18:31:13 2012, in response to Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system, posted by WillD on Sat Aug 11 18:21:36 2012.

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I'll take the opinions of the PROFESSIONALS who designed ARC over the coalition of foamers and Nazis on Sub Chat who opposed it and celebrated when Nazi Chrisco killed it for more EisenHITLER highway funding.

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(1171828)

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Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system

Posted by Olog-hai on Sat Aug 11 19:59:49 2012, in response to Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system, posted by Gold_12TH on Sat Aug 11 16:55:32 2012.

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More attempts to sell overpriced upgrades to the public? No word about the abuse of infrastructure not designed for 23 TPH?

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Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system

Posted by Dyre Dan on Sun Aug 12 20:36:03 2012, in response to Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system, posted by RockParkMan on Sat Aug 11 18:31:13 2012.

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"EisenHITLER"? Considering that Eisenhower was "Supreme Commander" in the war against Hitler, that is a strange thing to call him.

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Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system

Posted by RockParkMan on Sun Aug 12 20:48:15 2012, in response to Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system, posted by Dyre Dan on Sun Aug 12 20:36:03 2012.

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He fell in love with the autobahns and worked hard to destroy America's railroads for the rest of his life. He also instigated Operation Northwoods.

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Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system

Posted by Dyre Dan on Wed Aug 22 05:12:10 2012, in response to Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system, posted by RockParkMan on Sun Aug 12 20:48:15 2012.

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How much Eisenhower himself had to do with Operation Northwoods isn't clear. The Joint Chiefs of Staff came up with the idea. I guess he appointed them, or perhaps some were holdovers from the Truman administration. Thank God JFK stopped the plan. Possibly he paid for that decision with his life, or at least that was a factor.

P.S. I was initially undecided about whether to respond to this here. When I saw that Olog-hai revived a two-year-old thread of yours about 9/11, apparently for the purpose of ridiculing it, I decided to go ahead. I don't think it is fair to blame "the GOP" for what happened then; after all, if it was a partisan thing, the Democrats would have reversed the whole "9/11 changed everything" attitude, but sadly they haven't, and we still get laws like the recent NDAA. I do agree that the official story of 9/11 is nonsense.

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Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system

Posted by Spider-Pig on Wed Aug 22 05:16:15 2012, in response to Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system, posted by Dyre Dan on Wed Aug 22 05:12:10 2012.

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You are as disreputable as RockParkMan.

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Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system

Posted by Olog-hai on Wed Aug 22 09:09:50 2012, in response to Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system, posted by Dyre Dan on Wed Aug 22 05:12:10 2012.

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I do agree that the official story of 9/11 is nonsense

Then you're as wacked as the person you're responding to. Nothing happened under Northwoods, and all the sources that claim false-flag operations that never happened are very questionable—it's normal for enemy moles to send proposals like this to the POTUS.

You should worry more about documents like the Red House Report.

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Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system

Posted by Olog-hai on Wed Aug 22 09:56:55 2012, in response to Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system, posted by RockParkMan on Sun Aug 12 20:48:15 2012.

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1 and 2 I agree with . . . 3 is cuckoo city.

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Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system

Posted by Dyre Dan on Wed Aug 22 11:09:33 2012, in response to Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system, posted by Olog-hai on Wed Aug 22 09:09:50 2012.

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I'll just make one final comment on the subject: check out Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth.

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Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system

Posted by Olog-hai on Wed Aug 22 11:28:03 2012, in response to Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system, posted by Dyre Dan on Wed Aug 22 11:09:33 2012.

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Fringe truthers when the middle east terrorists already admitted their culpability?

BTW, learn how to make a link. You need the "http://" protocol in all links in the <a> tag.

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Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system

Posted by Dyre Dan on Wed Aug 22 11:43:15 2012, in response to Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system, posted by Olog-hai on Wed Aug 22 11:28:03 2012.

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Oops, I usually test links, don't know why I didn't this time. OK, I goofed on that. But the point is, the people there are responsible professionals, not "fringe" people. And the only people who "admitted their culpability" are either inept patsies or torture victims (or both).

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(1173826)

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Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system

Posted by Olog-hai on Wed Aug 22 11:45:22 2012, in response to Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system, posted by Dyre Dan on Wed Aug 22 11:43:15 2012.

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the people there are responsible professionals, not "fringe" people

LOL!

And the only people who "admitted their culpability" are either inept patsies or torture victims (or both)

Neither the supreme leader of Iran nor his puppet prime minister have been tortured. OBL wasn't either. I wouldn't call any of them "inept patsies", too.

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Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system

Posted by Chris R16/R2730 on Wed Aug 22 12:25:56 2012, in response to Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system, posted by Gold_12TH on Sat Aug 11 16:55:32 2012.

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Here's what I'd do:

- Sell Penn Station to the Port Authority and have it jointly run by NJT, the MTA and Amtrak, with written agreements to numbers of slots and priorities. This ends Amtrak favoring it's trains over NJT universally. One of the first things they could do is end the practice of having arriving and departing long distance trains from being scheduled during peak hours.

- Turn over the NEC from Sunnyside to NYP to NJT, from NYP to Sunnyside to the MTA. Amtrak pays a rental fee that funds maintenance work for both lines. This frees up NJT to do what it wants to accommodate it's trains as long as Amtrak's needs are met. They can begin upgrading the PRR power system, and expand the North River tunnels.

- Re-allocate about half the current funding being wasted on HSR work to upgrading the NEC. Abandon HSR and concentrate on maximizing the existing system.

- Double-track and fully electrify the Waterfront Connection to allow more reverse peak Newark Division trains to originate from Hoboken. There are 5 South Amboy expresses in the morning which literally run empty out of NYP. These trains could either originate at Hoboken or Newark via a grade-separated junction. NJT has been obsessed with hyping NYP over Hoboken for 20 years now. This problem is partially their own fault.

Longer term, adding an extra tube to the Hudson River and adding additional platforms south of track 1 and 2 to double peak direction capacity is the best answer, financially. All the proposed expansions are too expensive.

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(1173829)

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Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system

Posted by Chris R16/R2730 on Wed Aug 22 12:27:11 2012, in response to Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system, posted by Dyre Dan on Sun Aug 12 20:36:03 2012.

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Considering he was courted by Democrats as aggressively as the GOP prior to running for election, it's especially odd. Eisenhower was no ideological conservative.

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Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system

Posted by Olog-hai on Wed Aug 22 12:28:03 2012, in response to Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system, posted by Chris R16/R2730 on Wed Aug 22 12:25:56 2012.

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I don't see how Amtrak favors their own trains over NJT or how that's a problem anyhow. NJT is the one that jammed unnatural numbers of trains into NY Penn.

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Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system

Posted by Chris R16/R2730 on Wed Aug 22 12:37:29 2012, in response to Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system, posted by Olog-hai on Wed Aug 22 12:28:03 2012.

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Anytime an Amtrak train is late, it's given priority over NJT. Many times NEC trains are specifically slowed down to allow late running trains to get ahead of them before everything merges at Kearney. It should be first come, first serve at this junction.

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(1173833)

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Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system

Posted by WillD on Wed Aug 22 12:49:15 2012, in response to Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system, posted by Chris R16/R2730 on Wed Aug 22 12:37:29 2012.

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The Amtrak passengers are paying far more for their tickets, and as such they've paid for priority over commuter traffic. Unless of course you'd prefer we apportion our rail infrastructure on the basis of need rather than merit, comrade.

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Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system

Posted by Terrapin Station on Wed Aug 22 13:07:28 2012, in response to Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system, posted by Spider-Pig on Wed Aug 22 05:16:15 2012.

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+1

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Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system

Posted by WillD on Wed Aug 22 13:14:22 2012, in response to Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system, posted by Chris R16/R2730 on Wed Aug 22 12:25:56 2012.

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You do realize Amtrak is the only way the NEC is getting the desperately needed PORTAL bridge replacement now, right? Turning the NEC over to NJT would only have resulted in Chrisco killing that absolutely vital project along with ARC. As it was because PORTAL was a federal project it was able to skate past the idiocy relatively unharmed.

Re-allocate about half the current funding being wasted on HSR work to upgrading the NEC. Abandon HSR and concentrate on maximizing the existing system

Go ODS! Never mind that those "HSR" improvements you'd eliminate would go a long way toward removing the conflicts with Amtrak trains you complain about immediately before this entry.

Double-track and fully electrify the Waterfront Connection to allow more reverse peak Newark Division trains to originate from Hoboken

You're not going to do that project for 5 trains per day. Fully utilizing the investment, especially for a grade separated junction, will require allocating some NEC trains to those tracks, and those passengers will *not* be happy with the prospect of eight car trains showing up at Newark.

Longer term, adding an extra tube to the Hudson River and adding additional platforms south of track 1 and 2 to double peak direction capacity is the best answer, financially. All the proposed expansions are too expensive.

One extra tube because we have of course perfected matter transporters to teleport deadhead trains back to NJ, right? Then there's the small, inconvenient fact that shallow trench construction of the sort required to expand the NYP trench to the south is absolutely the most expensive manner of adding station capacity. Just look at the price increase of Gateway over ARC, despite the marginal increase in utility. But then you're being penny wise and pound foolish, trading relatively cheap tunnel construction for inordinately expensive station construction.

Better to build two new tubes in the short term, leave a number of provisions to serve additional platforms in the future. For now we'd utilize the tunnels's capacity by improving utilization of NYP platforms through a tightening up of operating procedures. Then, when NYP's capacity is truly maxed out, we can build the (again, very expensive) terminal improvements, but with some flexibility thanks to provisions made in the construction of the two new tubes.

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Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system

Posted by Olog-hai on Wed Aug 22 13:48:39 2012, in response to Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system, posted by Spider-Pig on Wed Aug 22 05:16:15 2012.

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+∞²

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Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system

Posted by WillD on Wed Aug 22 16:22:38 2012, in response to Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system, posted by Chris R16/R2730 on Wed Aug 22 12:25:56 2012.

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You do realize Amtrak is the only way the NEC is getting the desperately needed PORTAL bridge replacement now, right? Turning the NEC over to NJT would only have resulted in Chrisco killing that absolutely vital project along with ARC. As it was because PORTAL was a federal project it was able to skate past the idiocy relatively unharmed.

Re-allocate about half the current funding being wasted on HSR work to upgrading the NEC. Abandon HSR and concentrate on maximizing the existing system

Go ODS! Never mind that those "HSR" improvements you'd eliminate would go a long way toward removing the conflicts with Amtrak trains you complain about immediately before this entry.

Double-track and fully electrify the Waterfront Connection to allow more reverse peak Newark Division trains to originate from Hoboken

You're not going to do that project for 5 trains per day. Fully utilizing the investment, especially for a grade separated junction, will require allocating some NEC trains to those tracks, and those passengers will *not* be happy with the prospect of eight car trains showing up at Newark.

Longer term, adding an extra tube to the Hudson River and adding additional platforms south of track 1 and 2 to double peak direction capacity is the best answer, financially. All the proposed expansions are too expensive.

One extra tube because we have of course perfected matter transporters to teleport deadhead trains back to NJ, right? Then there's the small, inconvenient fact that shallow trench construction of the sort required to expand the NYP trench to the south is absolutely the most expensive manner of adding station capacity. Just look at the price increase of Gateway over ARC, despite the marginal increase in utility. But then you're being penny wise and pound foolish, trading relatively cheap tunnel construction for inordinately expensive station construction.

Better to build two new tubes in the short term, leave a number of provisions to serve additional platforms in the future. For now we'd utilize the tunnels's capacity by improving utilization of NYP platforms through a tightening up of operating procedures. Then, when NYP's capacity is truly maxed out, we can build the (again, very expensive) terminal improvements, but with some flexibility thanks to provisions made in the construction of the two new tubes.

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Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system

Posted by Spider-Pig on Wed Aug 22 16:24:08 2012, in response to Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system, posted by Dyre Dan on Wed Aug 22 11:09:33 2012.

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I don't visit crackpot websites.

Well-educated people can still be Ologesque crackpots.

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Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system

Posted by Chris R16/R2730 on Wed Aug 22 16:48:03 2012, in response to Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system, posted by Dyre Dan on Wed Aug 22 05:12:10 2012.

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I do agree that the official story of 9/11 is nonsense.

So you reject science, logic and factual evidence?

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Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system

Posted by SelkirkTMO on Wed Aug 22 16:54:11 2012, in response to Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system, posted by Chris R16/R2730 on Wed Aug 22 16:48:03 2012.

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Maybe he's a republican. :)

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Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system

Posted by Olog-hai on Wed Aug 22 17:13:04 2012, in response to Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system, posted by Chris R16/R2730 on Wed Aug 22 16:48:03 2012.

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He does. He buys the whole Operation Northwoods hype too.

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Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system

Posted by Chris R16/R2730 on Wed Aug 22 17:22:37 2012, in response to Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system, posted by SelkirkTMO on Wed Aug 22 16:54:11 2012.

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Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system

Posted by Train Dude on Wed Aug 22 17:31:42 2012, in response to Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system, posted by WillD on Wed Aug 22 16:22:38 2012.

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All that knowledge and what is SEPTA paying you per hour?

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Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system

Posted by SelkirkTMO on Wed Aug 22 17:31:58 2012, in response to Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system, posted by Chris R16/R2730 on Wed Aug 22 17:22:37 2012.

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Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system

Posted by Chris R16/R2730 on Wed Aug 22 17:33:27 2012, in response to Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system, posted by WillD on Wed Aug 22 16:22:38 2012.

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ZOMG, you mean the feds can't help fund state projects? Remember to use the first five cars to exit the train at South Ferry!

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Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system

Posted by RockParkMan on Wed Aug 22 17:42:48 2012, in response to Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system, posted by Olog-hai on Wed Aug 22 09:56:55 2012.

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It's just cuckoo city becaues you would support Northwoods.

1. Former Generals cannot be trusted to hold public office.

2. We need to destroy any treasonous elements in the military who want to operate in this manner.

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Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system

Posted by SelkirkTMO on Wed Aug 22 17:44:01 2012, in response to Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system, posted by Chris R16/R2730 on Wed Aug 22 17:33:27 2012.

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Apparently not anymore ... repubs are BACK in da house, baby ...

http://www.transportationissuesdaily.com/proposed-2012-budget-would-slash-transportation-funds/

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Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system

Posted by Train Dude on Wed Aug 22 17:52:59 2012, in response to Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system, posted by SelkirkTMO on Wed Aug 22 17:44:01 2012.

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More of the dishonesty that we've come to expect. Chris is talking about what is and you talk about what might be. Credibility man - credibility.

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Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system

Posted by Chris R16/R2730 on Wed Aug 22 17:59:35 2012, in response to Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system, posted by Train Dude on Wed Aug 22 17:52:59 2012.

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Feds fund state rail projects all the time. If NJ owned Portal, they could still lobby for the funding to replace it. In fact, I'd wager much of NJT owned infrastructure is in better shape than Amtrak's.

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Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system

Posted by Hank Eisenstein on Wed Aug 22 18:05:17 2012, in response to Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system, posted by RockParkMan on Sat Aug 11 18:31:13 2012.

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Those 'professionals' were consultants who cared more for their overly-large paychecks and not one bit for a functional rail system.

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Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system

Posted by Train Dude on Wed Aug 22 18:05:28 2012, in response to Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system, posted by Chris R16/R2730 on Wed Aug 22 17:59:35 2012.

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The usual suspect was trying to fog the issue with his usual brand of partisan bullshit.

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Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system

Posted by Hank Eisenstein on Wed Aug 22 18:11:33 2012, in response to Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system, posted by Chris R16/R2730 on Wed Aug 22 12:25:56 2012.

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Those 'expresses' leave NYP in the AM rush empty out of NYP because the trains were FULL when they brought people INTO NYP. You can't originate the service in Hoboken if the trains aren't IN Hoboken.

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Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system

Posted by SelkirkTMO on Wed Aug 22 18:24:10 2012, in response to Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system, posted by Train Dude on Wed Aug 22 17:52:59 2012.

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That's YOUR republican budget. It's official.

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Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system

Posted by Train Dude on Wed Aug 22 18:25:45 2012, in response to Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system, posted by SelkirkTMO on Wed Aug 22 18:24:10 2012.

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I keep telling you that if it comes out of congress then it's our budget unless you keep your promise and move north of the border.

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Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system

Posted by Olog-hai on Wed Aug 22 18:32:30 2012, in response to Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system, posted by Chris R16/R2730 on Wed Aug 22 17:59:35 2012.

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No, it really isn't.

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Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system

Posted by SelkirkTMO on Wed Aug 22 18:45:15 2012, in response to Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system, posted by Train Dude on Wed Aug 22 18:25:45 2012.

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And if it were Pelosi's budget, would you be singing the blues with a Bushman or a Hohner harmonica?

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Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system

Posted by Train Dude on Wed Aug 22 19:33:43 2012, in response to Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system, posted by SelkirkTMO on Wed Aug 22 18:45:15 2012.

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If it were pelosi's budget I'd think we were in the twilight zone. What budget did that dumb bitch pass in two years?

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Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system

Posted by SelkirkTMO on Wed Aug 22 19:48:30 2012, in response to Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system, posted by Train Dude on Wed Aug 22 19:33:43 2012.

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You'd have to vote for it first. :)

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Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system

Posted by Train Dude on Wed Aug 22 20:17:56 2012, in response to Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system, posted by SelkirkTMO on Wed Aug 22 19:48:30 2012.

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And we'd have to vote for it to see what's in it.

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Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system

Posted by SelkirkTMO on Wed Aug 22 20:20:00 2012, in response to Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system, posted by Train Dude on Wed Aug 22 20:17:56 2012.

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Uh ... yeah. :-\

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Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system

Posted by Joe V on Thu Aug 23 10:16:02 2012, in response to Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system, posted by Chris R16/R2730 on Wed Aug 22 12:25:56 2012.

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I do not want to give the Port Authority any more power than it has. I'd really like to dismantle the whole agency. In practice They answer to no one, do what they want, their fare/toll hike "hearing" process was a joke, and off-peak PATH service frequency is disgraceful. Christie lets them get away with it since he is using them as an ATM machine for the Pulaski Skyway, which is really his responsibility.

Which LD trains are you referring to ?
48 does not arrive from Chicago until 6:30pm. 49 is out by 3:45pm.
The practice you are referring to ended over 20 years ago.

I agree the Waterfront Connection should be finished. The Gold Coast is under-served. It would not be that expensive and more RVL trains can be sent there. The existing trains are very popular. People actually transfer at Newark in the AM and wait for them at track 3. About 50% of the NJCL load gets off at Newark, but another 50% gets on, and they are pretty full into Hoboken.

They should be encouraging people out of NYPS - there will be no new tunnels for at least a decade, probably longer.

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Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system

Posted by Joe V on Thu Aug 23 10:17:28 2012, in response to Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system, posted by Chris R16/R2730 on Wed Aug 22 12:37:29 2012.

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The Control Center is manned by 16 people: LIRR and Amtrak. NJT has a "liasion". They can get off their ass and pay for inclusion anytime they want.

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Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system

Posted by Olog-hai on Thu Aug 23 11:23:13 2012, in response to Re: Lack of funds for maintenance clogs busy NJ Transit rail system, posted by Joe V on Thu Aug 23 10:16:02 2012.

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They should be encouraging people out of NYPS

They aren't going to do that what with LIRR not encouraging people out of NYP themselves (or GCT if they ever go in there), and downgrading Flatbush Avenue Atlantic Terminal (after putting a few zillion into rebuilding it and all) . . .

I agree the Waterfront Connection should be finished. The Gold Coast is under-served

Dontcha know that the right way to get to the "Gold Coast" is via PATH to HBLR and all . . . ?

That Waterfront Connector is a missed opportunity. Of course, not building a Union Station in Manhattan (to join up with the LIRR's Atlantic Avenue Branch) is yet another missed opportunity . . . all the zillions that the MTA spent on ESA could've gone towards something like that, and any new tunnels under the Hudson coulda been built from East End under Hoboken instead.

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