Amtrak, NJ Transit update efforts to address Northeast Corridor disruptions

NEWARK, N.J. — Amtrak and NJ Transit have issued an update on efforts to address service disruptions on the Northeast Corridor that led them to formulate a joint action plan earlier this year.

The 12-page presentation details inspection and improvement efforts for Amtrak’s NEC infrastructure and rolling stock for both operators between July 6 and Oct. 4. Those efforts are based on the action plan developed after a meeting called by New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy in the wake of the issues, as well as the two sides’ disagreements over their cause [see “Amtrak, NJ Transit pledge to work together …,” Trains News Wire, June 28, 2024].

Murphy, in a press release accompanying the update, said that “while the fundamental challenge facing our mass transit system continues to be aging infrastructure, we believe that these completed repairs, and the infrastructure investments to come, will make sure New Jerseyans have an easier time getting where they need to go when they need to get there.”

Among the actions highlighted:

— Amtrak has inspected all 240 track-miles of catenary between Trenton, N.J., and New York City, renewing more than 2,000 hardware components. This included 52 route-miles of helicopter inspections, leading to more than 800 hardware replacements.

— NJ Transit completed vision and hands-on inspection of 82 route-miles of catenary in its system, finding no major issues but replacing some components.

— Amtrak made technical updates to its high-speed catenary inspection car and returned it to service, and increased inspection of its pantographs.

— Both parties have engaged with outside parties, including the Federal Railroad Administration, pantograph manufacturer TransTECH, carbon strip manufacturer Morgan, and third-party consultants, to evaluate causes and solutions to earlier incidents.

— Amtrak is performing supplemental inspections and working to improve resiliency on its 13 power substations between Trenton and New York City. Causes of a power outage in September have been identified and corrective action has been taken.

— NJ Transit is adding fiberglass protectors to its pantographs and examining an automatic drop system to protect against damage to and from the catenary.

The two operators also note that Amtrak has just received more than $300 million in federal grants for corridor upgrades in New Jersey [see “FRA awards $1.5 billion …,” Trains News Wire, Nov. 15, 2024].

Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner said in the release that the joint effort “is achieving results,” and that the two parties “will continue to conduct inspections, make short-term repairs and seek more funding to fully modernize all aspects of our infrastructure over the long term, including our electric traction system, catenary, signals, switches, and more.” NJ Transit CEO Kevin Corbett said it is “essential that we sustain the same level of attention we have demonstrated over the past five months. In addition to the work we are doing to add fiberglass protectors on our pantographs to protect them from impact damage on the NEC catenary, NJ Transit will continue to support Amtrak’s efforts to accelerate the work to upgrade the most vulnerable infrastructure along the NEC.”

The report does not include any performance statistics, such as timekeeping or train cancellations, that would measure the impact of the program to date. The document does include one table that says signal and track systems “continue to perform consistent with historic norms.” The incidents per mile of track rose from 2023 to 2024 for both communications and signals (2.85 to 3.17) and track (0.57 to 0.73); three-year averages are 3.08 in the first category and 0.66 in the second.