CHRISTIE ADMINISTRATION: MAJORITY OF NJ TRANSIT BUS SERVICE TO RESUME THURSDAY

80% of New Jersey's Statewide Bus System Restored Including Service to New York's Port Authority Bus Terminal

October 31, 2012

NEWARK, NJ — The Christie Administration announced that the majority of NJ TRANSIT bus service will be restored effective Thursday, November 1, as part of the Administration’s ongoing storm assessment and restoration efforts related to NJ TRANSIT. 

Additionally, the Christie Administration announced that limited Access Link paratransit service will also resume on Thursday.

Tomorrow’s service restoration comes on the heels of the Administration’s earlier announcement that River Line light rail service resumed operations at 3 p.m. today, making trips every 30 minutes between the Walter Rand Transportation Center in Camden and Trenton Transit Center. 

“This is tremendous progress,” said Transportation Commissioner and NJ TRANSIT Board Chairman James Simpson.  “We are not out of the woods by any stretch, but we will continue working around the clock to further restore service where we can safely do so.  On behalf of the entire NJ TRANSIT family, we appreciate the patience and understanding of our customers during this difficult time.”

Due to significant damage to the State’s public transportation network, NJ TRANSIT rail service will remain suspended until further notice.  Newark Light Rail and Hudson Bergen Light Rail service also remain suspended until further notice. 

Bus Service:

·         Starting tomorrow, November 1, NJ TRANSIT will restore bus service on 68 bus routes in northern New Jersey and 18 bus routes in southern New Jersey, providing service over the entire routes with no detours or truncations.   For a complete list, visit njtransit.com.

·         Also tomorrow, NJ TRANSIT will restore partial service on 58 bus routes in northern New Jersey and 17 routes in southern New Jersey that will operate with detours or truncations due to ongoing impacts from Hurricane Sandy.  For details, visit njtransit.com

·         Bus service on routes not listed remains suspended until further notice.  Power outages in local communities have resulted in the loss of traffic control devices critical to safe operation in some areas.  Downed tree limbs and power lines continue to make many roads impassable.  Personnel are in the field reviewing and assessing these conditions in order to ensure that service is restored as soon as it becomes safe to do so. 

Rail Service:

There is no estimated time for the resumption of service.  Service will remain suspended until further notice. Crews continue to inspect the rail infrastructure to get a full assessment of damage:

·         NJ TRANSIT’s Rail Operations Center—the central nervous system of the railroad—was engulfed in water, which damaged backup power supply systems, the emergency generator, and the computer system that controls the movement of trains and power supply.

·         Local power outages have prevented NJ TRANSIT rail operations from being able to further test crossing gates and operating signals.

·         Hundreds of downed trees have fallen across the rail system, which have caused damage to overhead wires and signal wires.

·         There are rail washouts across the system, including on the North Jersey Coast Line, Atlantic City Rail Line as well as at Kearny Junction, the critical link which enables MidTOWN Direct service to access the Northeast Corridor.

·         Several rail stations have sustained flood damage, including Hoboken Terminal.

·         Morgan Drawbridge on the North Jersey Coast Line in South Amboy sustained damage from boats and a trailer that collided into the bridge.

Light Rail Service:

·         River Line resumed service starting at 3 p.m. today, operating every 30 minutes between Walter Rand Transportation Center in Camden and Trenton Transit Center.  Service remains suspended between Walter Rand Transportation Center and the Entertainment Center due to an ongoing power outage in downtown Camden.

·         Hudson-Bergen Light Rail, Newark Light Rail service will remain suspended until further notice.  There is currently no estimated time for resumption of service.   Crews continue to inspect the light rail infrastructure to get a full assessment of damage.

·         Newark Light Rail sustained flooding in Newark Penn Station, as well as major debris damage between Newark Penn and Branch Brook Park stations.

·         Hudson-Bergen Light Rail experienced track washouts at Port Imperial and West Side Avenue stations, as well as trees in the overhead wire in Weehawken and flooding in Hoboken.

Access Link:

·         Access Link service will resume tomorrow, November 1, in the following regions:

·         Region 2, which includes Burlington, Camden, Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem counties.

·         Region 3, which includes Atlantic, Cape May and Southern Ocean County.

Service Updates:

For the latest travel information, customers should listen to broadcast traffic reports, visit or access NJ TRANSIT’s Twitter feed at @NJ_TRANSIT. Additionally, NJ TRANSIT will provide the most current service information via the My Transit alert system (www.njtransit.com/mytransit), which delivers travel advisories for your specific trip to your cell phone, PDA or pager. Service information is also available by calling (973) 275-5555.

About NJ TRANSIT

NJ TRANSIT is the nation's largest statewide public transportation system providing more than 895,000 weekday trips on 261 bus routes, three light rail lines, 12 commuter rail lines and through Access Link paratransit service. It is the second largest transit system in the country with 164 rail stations, 61 light rail stations and more than 19,000 bus stops linking major points in New Jersey, New York and Philadelphia.