NEWARK, N.J. — NJ Transit will suspend all service on Sunday, Jan. 25, because of a severe weather forecast for the agency’s service area. In a press release, NJ Transit said it was taking the step “out of an abundance of caution for the safety of customers and employees,” and in alignment with Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s declaration of a state of emergency.
New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority, CTRail’s Hartford Line and Shore Line East, and Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority services are also making service changes.
Sherrill’s declaration, effective at 5 p.m. today (Saturday, Jan. 24), includes a restriction on travel by commercial vehicles beginning at 12:01 a.m. on Sunday.
Bus, light rail, and Access Link service system will be suspended as of 4 a.m. Rail service will operate on a regular Sunday schedule until 2 p.m., at which time it will also be suspended. Rail passengers should plan on reaching their final destination by 2 p.m. The NJ Transit website will be updated later today with information on the last train on each rail line.
Updates on Monday service will be determined during the day on Sunday as the agency assesses the impact of the storm. Customers are encouraged to continuously monitor NJTransit.com for information on the resumption of service. Customers may see trains and light rail vehicles operating during the suspension of service, but that equipment is operating without passengers to keep overhead wires and tracks free of snow and ice.
More information is available at this advisory.
Updated MTA plans as of Sunday morning call for the Long Island Rail Road to operate on a modified Sunday schedule, with no service between Ronkonkoma and Greenport, and reduced Babylon Branch service with no direct trains to Grand Central Terminal. Some previous service changes for maintenance have been canceled. The Metro-North Railroad will operate hourly service on the Hudson, Harlem, and New Haven lines, and regular weekend service on the New Canaan, Danbury, and Waterbury branches. West of Hudson service on the Port Jervis and Pascack Valley lines will be suspended as of 2 p.m. in keeping with the suspension of connecting NJ Transit operations.
Current plans call for Monday call for trains to operate on a Saturday schedule with additional rush-hour trains. Check the MTA Train Time app for details.
Subway service has also had some planned maintenance work canceled, and some express trains will make local stops this weekend. More information is available here.
In Connecticut, CTrail’s Hartford Line will see eight round trips canceled on Sunday, involving both CTrail and Amtrak trains. On Monday, four northbound and five southbound CTrail trains have been canceled. Details are available here. Shore Line East service has canceled four round trips on Sunday and four round trips on Monday. Details are available here.
The MBTA plans normal weekend service on Sunday, but has several changes on Monday. Commuter rail lines will operate on reduced storm schedules, available on each line’s web page. The subway Red, Orange, Green, and Blue lines expect to operate normal service. But Mattapan Line trolley service will likely be suspended and replaced with shuttle buses as conditions worsen because of expected snow accumulation and to protect the nearly 80-year-old trolleys from damage, according to this MBTA advisory.
In the Philadelphia area, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority has announced it will halt many services as of 2 p.m. Sunday, as reported here.
— Updated at 6:10 p.m. CT to reflect revised NJ Transit announcement and add CTrail information. Updated at 6:20 p.m. to include MBTA and SEPTA information. Updated Jan. 25 at 10:40 a.m. to reflect additional MTA changes; updated at 10:50 a.m. with link to story on SEPTA cancellations. To report news or errors, contact trainsnewswire@firecrown.com.
Having lived in the Snow Belt all my life (including in Massachusetts where snow is measured in feet, not inches), a few thoughts.
Forecast for New Jersey tomorrow is lots of snow, but not particularly strong wind or cold. So, snow will be the main problem in New Jersey, not dangerous cold or wind as in, say, North Dakota or northern Minnesota. Each increment of snow lessens the capacity of the roads (which are gridlocked on a good day), and lessens the average performance of a train, so something’s got to give. The something that’s got to give is on a spectrum, schoolchildren first, emergency responders and health care workers last, everyone else on the spectrum in between. The question before us now is where do the railroads come in on this spectrum.
I can see reduced train service. With amended schedules now available on line in real time (as opposed to depending on timetables printed on paper months before), reduced service certainly is doable. But no service?
There is significant cold weather associated with the storm, but not Midwest cold measured in minus degrees, that is for sure. But relatively for the area, it will be a “cold” event, especially post storm.
One of the best ways to keep tracks clean is to run trains on them! Empty or not.