WESTFIELD, NJ — After a hiatus of more than a year, off-peak direct service to New York City on NJ Transit’s Raritan Valley Line will be restored Nov. 4.
All five midday trains that operated prior to September 2018 will be restored, as will three of four evening trips, Gov. Phil Murphy and U.S. Rep. Tom Malinowski announced. The fourth evening trip will not be restored because of a need to inspect and prepare equipment for the next day’s service. Raritan Valley passengers will still have to transfer at Newark during peak periods, as had been the case in the past.
The one-seat service to New York was suspended while NJ Transit installed positive train control equipment on its cars and locomotives. [See “NJ Transit adjusts start date for suspension of Raritan service,” Trains News Wire, Aug. 8, 2019.] Originally scheduled to be resumed in spring 2019, its resumption was delayed by ongoing PTC work, as well as summer infrastructure work at New York Penn Station.
New Jersey Department of Transportation Commissioner Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti said there would be a miminal additional budget cost to restart the service.
The Raritan Valley Line moves 23,000 riders a day, the third-largest total for NJ Transit’s commuter rail system, serving four counties and connecting 26 communities to Newark and New York City.
Murphy also announced he will attend Wednesday’s graduation of NJ Transit’s newest class of engineers. The seven new engineers will then begin 30 to 60 days of field testing as the commuter railroad continues its efforts to address an ongoing shortage of operators.
