WASHINGTON — NJ Transit will receive $75 million to support replace a 70-year-old facility damaged by Hurricane Ida in 2021, the Federal Transit Administration has announced.
The money will go toward construction of a maintenance-of-way facility in Clifton, N.J., replacing what NJ Transit calls an obsolete and flood-prone facility in Wood-Ridge.
“The new facility in Clifton will enable us to better maintain and enhance our rail infrastructure, which translates to better, more reliable service for our customers” NJ Transit CEO Kevin S. Corbett said in a press release. “We are grateful to the FTA for this generous $75 million grant as we continue to modernize maintenance operations to meet the future demands of New Jersey’s growing population and the transportation needs of our customers.”
Operations at the current facility include equipment maintenance, rebuilding of signal relays, construction of signal bungalows, and crewing of maintenance staff. The move to a new location will allow for potential expansion, along with additional parking and vehicle storage.
The funding is part of almost $110 million in funding for eight transportation agencies and state Departments of Transportation to address costs from recent natural disasters under the FTA’s Public Transportation Emergency Relief Program. Most of the funding goes to systems to highway and bus systems, but two other agencies with rail components are also receiving funds:
— The Puerto Rico Highways and Transportation Authority will receive almost $13.2 million to rehabilite Tren Urbano facilities damaged by Hurricanes Irma and Maria in September 2019. Tren Ubrano is a 10.7-mile, 16-station automated transit line in the San Juan area, using Siemens equipment operating on third-rail power.
— The Buffalo-area Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority will receive $201,160 for emergency-response operating costs following a December 2022 blizzard.
“Americans cannot stop their lives because a disaster damages their transit systems,” said FTA Administrator Nuria Fernandez. “We know it is critical to fund recovery efforts for these systems, so they can keep taking Americans to work, school, doctors’ appointments, and other important destinations.”
The complete list of the agencies receiving FTA funding is available here.
— Updated Feb. 6 at 7:30 a.m. with additional information from NJ Transit on project to be funded.
