Atlantic City rail line to resume May 24 | New Jersey

The announcement was made a day after Governor Phil Murphy ordered NJ Transit Executive Director Kevin Corbett to announce the date of resumption of service by the end of the week.

Politicians are now asking the agency to expand its Atlantic City rail service.

"It does not make sense to have taken so long to reopen, knowing that Atlantic City is such an economic engine for the entire state," said the Senator Chris Brown, from R-Atlantic. "What we need to focus on now is the extension of the railway line so that it better serves the community and this 2.6 billion dollar (casino) industry." . "

Corbett last week told Atlantic City Rail Line drivers that he would give them an appointment within three weeks.

"The governor helped with that," said US representative Jeff Van Drew, D-2nd, who had asked Murphy to help him get a date to reopen the agency. He also organized a letter from almost the entire New Jersey Congress delegation to NJ Transit requesting a resumption of service as soon as possible.

Van Drew said he told the governor that the line needed to be reinstated before Memorial Day.

"It's an incredible inconvenience," said Van Drew. Passengers had to take much shorter NJ Transit buses for their daily commutes or tourist trips. But with the tourist season brewing after Memorial Day, more workers and tourists would have been affected, he said.

"Now let's see what we can do to get more regular races, and maybe an express race," said Van Drew.

The line was closed in September to allow the installation of safety equipment for the control of positive control trains prescribed by the federal government. The stop has doubled travel time and makes it much less comfortable, motorcyclists said.

NJ Transit first indicated that the train would resume in early 2019, but in January, it would not start until March, and then later in the second quarter of the year, which will end June 30.

MPs Vince Mazzeo and John Armato, both from D-Atlantic, said they were happy to be able to review their reopening date, but they are disappointed that it could not have been sooner.

"It's quite far. I would like to see exactly what the problem is ", which prevents it from reopening in March, April or early May, Mazzeo said. "We will keep NJ Transit's feet on fire and try to do it sooner."

The agency said the shortage of engineers and equipment throughout the system had delayed reopening, as well as the desire to wait for the Federal Railroad Administration's approval of the new schedules, although this approval did not was not required, according to FRA. But officials have never explained why some engineers and equipment could not be used on one of the state's other 11 main railway lines, all of which are located in central and northern Jersey. PTC equipment was installed on the Atlantic City line early this year.

"To all members of the public and elected officials who came to this awful meeting at NJ Transit – they actually made a difference. This has displaced the needle, "said Frank Formica, independent owner of the Atlantic County Republic, who has criticized NJ Transit for failing to provide seats or a sound system for the meeting last Thursday, attracting around 200 people.

Formica said he was also looking for more frequent trains for the Atlantic City line.

The other rail line whose service was interrupted, the Princeton branch (Dinky), will also restart on May 24, said NJ Transit.

All alternative service options will remain in effect until May 24th. For details, visit njtransit.com/ptc or call NJ Transit Customer Service at 973-275-5555 between 8:30 AM and 5:00 PM. Daily.

Also this week, federal regulators have agreed to NJ Transit for a two-year extension of TPC implementation across the state. FRA sent a letter this week stating that NJ Transit met six essential criteria at the end of December for the extension.

Associated Press contributed to this report.