NJ Transit on holiday schedule through Thursday — says it’s as frustrated as you

NEW YORK — NJ Transit will remain on a holiday schedule on the Northeast Corridor and North Jersey Coast Line through at least Thursday afternoon's commute.

The effects of Monday's derailment continue after to a broken switch machine heavily damaged by the three passenger cars that came off the track. Amtrak COO Scot Naparstek said crews are working around the clock to make repairs, but he would not commit to a timeframe for when the work would be completed.

CBS New York reported there are several feet of track damaged by the derailment at track 9, which closed off 8 tracks from being used by NJ Transit, LIRR or Amtrak.

Until repairs are complete, NJ Transit said, it will offer holiday service, which is roughly half the number of trains that run on a normal weekday schedule but with some additional service in the morning and afternoon.

The following additional trains will operate inbound to Penn Station New York

• North Jersey Coast Line 5:45 a.m. from Bay Head
• North Jersey Coast Line 6:59 a.m. from Bay Head
• Northeast Corridor 8:11 a.m. from New Brunswick
• Northeast Corridor 8:41 a.m. from New Brunswick
• Northeast Corridor 8:32 a.m. from Trenton (local stops except Jersey Ave.)

The following additional trains will operate outbound from Penn Station New York

• Northeast Corridor 4:38 p.m. to Jersey Ave.
• Northeast Corridor 5:28 p.m. to Jersey Ave.
• North Jersey Coast Line 5:38 p.m. to Bay Head
• Northeast Corridor 6:31 p.m. local to Trenton (including Jersey Ave. stop)
• North Jersey Coast Line 6:38 p.m. to Bay Head

NY Waterway will also offer additional ferries leaving Hoboken Terminal slip 5 to 39th Street in midtown Manhattan every hour between 6:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m., and again in the afternoon from 3:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Cross-honoring will continue across all NJ Transit rail, light rail, buses plus private bus carriers, PATH and NY Waterway.

Raritan Valley Line service will operate on a regular weekday schedule and originate and terminate at Newark Penn Station while MidTOWN Direct trains continue to operate in and out of Hoboken Terminal where customers can access PATH and NJ TRANSIT bus service.

NJ Transit’s Main/Bergen, Pascack Valley, Port Jervis and Atlantic City Rail Lines continue on regular weekday schedules.

"We're as frustrated as our customers are but we're doing everything we possibly can to identify areas where we can increase service as well as providing customers with every possible travel option," NJ Transit spokeswoman Nancy Snyder said.

"It is our plan to have service restored as quickly as possible," Naparstek said, adding that “first and foremost we’ll make sure the operation is safety and the riding public’s safety has been taken into consideration.”

Would the canceled ARC tunnel have helped with some of the problems created by Monday's derailment?

John Porcari, a former deputy U.S. secretary of transportation who is the interim head of the development corporation overseeing Gateway, noted a new tunnel wouldn't have stopped the two recent derailments from happening. But would, he said, lessen the aftershock to commuters because the tracks currently out of service would have been able to connect to the new tunnel.

"It would have been a minor blip instead of a major nightmare for commuters," he said.

Gov. Chris Christie killed the ARC tunnel project in 2010 over concerns that New Jersey would have had to pick up any cost overruns and the tunnel would have ended in Macy's basement

The Associated Press contributed to this report

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com.

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