NJ Transit riders may be reimbursed for delays. Here's more on the proposed "All Aboard Act."
GLEN ROCK, N.J. -- Some NJ Transit commuters say they're fed up after a summer of delays and cancellations.
Back in June, the agency reported delays or temporary suspensions on at least eight different days. Gov. Phil Murphy then announced a joint plan to expedite investigations between NJ Transit and Amtrak.
In July, a 15% fare hike went into effect, and that same month riders faced multiple delays and cancellations because of the heat.
Now, a movement is underway to create a passenger bill of rights.
What you need to know about the "All Aboard Act"
At the Glen Rock Boro Hall station on Monday, Congressman Josh Gottheimer said in some of the worst scenarios transit riders must be reimbursed.
The bill is called the "All Aboard Act," with a rail-passenger bill of rights.
"The goal here is to make sure when people get on their trains, they're not sitting for hours and hours," Gottheimer said.
He said when trains are delayed or canceled for at least three hours, Amtrak would repay NJ Transit customers when its system is to blame. Earlier this summer, Amtrak and NJ Transit promised to do a better job of working together to fix chronic problems with infrastructure, technology and service.
There have been significant delays for months, with riders saying June was particularly awful.
"Everything needs to be overhauled, the way they run with informing their customers," said Adele Colon of South Jamaica, Queens.
Gottheimer said delays in June were so frequent, they made headlines and prompted the "All Board Act."
"The train only ran on time 75% of the time. If you commute five days a week, like a lot of people do, that means you can expect to be delayed one day a week on average," Gottheimer said.
"We were just delayed coming in by the overhead wires today. Today. Just now, I got off the train," said Sam Rivers of Newark.
Amtrak releases lengthy statement
"Amtrak is working hard to improve the reliability of the Northeast Corridor after nearly five decades of chronic underfunding by both the federal government and our commuter partners. We and NJ TRANSIT, like, Congressman Gottheimer, want on-time service that meet customer expectations and we are working diligently, together, to identify root causes and make improvements to the many old assets we rely on every day to support roughly 450 daily trains in New Jersey.
"Assertions that Amtrak infrastructure alone is the cause of the delays experienced this summer by Amtrak and NJ TRANSIT riders aren't supported by the facts, and we certainly don't take a "run to failure" approach, although funding constraints have long forced us to extend the use of aging assets rather than replace them. Now finally, the funding recently provided by the transformational Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, made possible in part by work of Congressman Gottheimer, has enabled Amtrak to begin to rectify this and launch the company's largest-ever capital investment program, which has more investment planned in New Jersey than any other state, reflecting the criticality of these tracks to the whole Northeast Corridor.
"While we deeply appreciate the $6 billion in supplemental federal funds to replace Amtrak's old assets and enhance accessibility on the NEC, most of these funds are committed already to other vital projects and are a downpayment on the tens of billions needed from Congress, and our commuter partners, in the future to modernize the Northeast Corridor from Washington DC to Boston over the coming decade. We, and our partners, are already actively working to maximize all the potential funding sources available under the BIL to improve service now and in the future. We look forward to discussing all the actions Amtrak, and our partner NJ TRANSIT, are taking today to improve the railroad with Rep. Gottheimer and getting his continued help to secure the funding required to improve the customer experience going forward."
