NEW YORK — For the third straight morning, New Jersey Transit service was suspended due to problems with the catenary.
NJ Transit says the Northeast Corridor and North Jersey Coast lines have resumed with limited operations in both directions.
CBS New York’s Natalie Duddridge spoke to commuters at an Iselin train station, where many people showed up without realizing there was a problem.
It’s been a stressful morning for a man trying to catch a train to Newark Liberty International Airport to catch a flight, only to be told by passengers that the trains have been cancelled.
“I have to go to the airport,” he said. “I have just found out.”
NEC and NJCL rail service resumed with limited service in both directions following previous problems with the Amtrak catenary. NJ TRANSIT rail tickets/passes are accepted by NJ TRANSIT buses, private transportation companies and PATH at Newark Penn Station, Hoboken and 33rd St. New York.
— NJ TRANSIT (@NJTRANSIT) July 7, 2023
It was also an annoying start to the day for dozens of commuters and tourists heading into Manhattan.
“We want to see the Freedom Tower. We’re from Wisconsin,” said Eric Austin. “I’m trying to have a good time here and it’s like an animal in this little wheel thing and I’m not going anywhere.”
“It’s a little frustrating. And they don’t really give you any information on how to get a refund for your tickets or anything like that. So I’ve actually been standing here for 20 minutes,” added Jared Austin.
The problem, according to Amtrak, was catenary problems at Rahway, which caused delays and speed restrictions from Philadelphia to New York, temporarily canceled all Keystone trains, and impacted NJ Transit service.
“Now we have to find out and maybe go to Woodbridge,” commuter Angela Austin said.
At around 2 p.m., stranded passengers had to climb out of a stuck NJ Transit train onto the tracks near Maplewood on the Morris and Essex line due to a problem with the catenary. Three dozen commuters were loaded onto buses while crews struggled to fix the problem.
Chopper 2 was above the marshalling yard at Rahway when a yellow van with crew members attempted to restore power. Too little, too late for Anthony Muccigrossi.
“Extremely frustrating because it happens all the time,” he said. “I have to take an Uber like yesterday… Luckily I shared it with someone. We took it to Secaucus and then jumped on the train there.”
“One minute it’s one thing and the next it’s another,” said commuter Mary Cruz.
In addition, there were service problems on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and now also on Fridays, which delayed the way to work.
Commuter Odalis Kennedy said she usually gets to work around 9:30 a.m
“Yesterday I got there around 11 o’clock,” she said. “It’s worse than ever, but New Jersey Transit gets you late almost every time.”
“This is too much because yesterday it was canceled too,” added one woman.
“I don’t know if they are power players or if the wires sag due to thermal expansion. So why now? I don’t know,” said Joe Versaggi, president of the New Jersey Association of Rail Passengers.
“The question is, where does the money go? I paid $310 a month for a card. The train was canceled, delayed, stopped. We’ll do the crawl in the morning,” said Muccigrossi.
According to NJ Transit, rail tickets and passes from NJ Transit buses, private transportation companies and PATH are mutually recognized at Newark Penn Station, Hoboken and Penn Station New York.
CLICK HERE for the latest information from NJ Transit.
Natalie Duddridge