TRENTON — NJ Transit will not restore express service on its Pascack Valley line until the commuter railroad has more engineers available, NorthJersey.com reports.
The express trains are part of a dispute between NJ Transit and Metro-North, which pays the New Jersey agency to operate some services extending into New York state. [See “Metro-North to withhold payments to NJ Transit over service issues,” Trains News Wire, Nov. 22.]
The news site reports that NJ Transit CEO Kevin Corbett, responding to a letter from Metro-North President Catherine Rinaldi, wrote that his agency would restore the express service when it can “ensure consistent, reliable service. As more engineers continue to fill out the roster, I expect to see a continued reduction in train cancellations.”
Four classes of engineers are slated to graduate by the end of the year. An engineer shortage has led to widespread cancellations of NJ Transit trains in recent years; earlier this year, frequent cancellations of one train on NJ Transit’s North Jersey Coast line led the New York Times to dub it “the very worst commuter train in America.”
With the cost of living and taxas in NJ, unless they are already in the NJ area, I’m not sure how many would jump to move there at the NJT payscale.
I would agree that there should be many available engineers because of PSR.
A good deal too; home at night, job security – when was the last time a commuter line had a layoff?
With all the layoffs on Class 1 railroads because of precision railroading I would think there would be qualified people who could be hired. I am sure somebody here with more knowledge of the subject could fill in.