NJ Transit Commuters Faring Well in ‘Summer of Hell’

By George N. Saliba, Managing Editor On Aug 7, 2017

Track repairs at New York Penn Station that are disrupting service for NJ Transit customers are on schedule, and, additionally, the so-called inconvenient “summer of hell” that commuters anticipated is reportedly not as much of a hassle as expected.

While travel into Penn Station may be somewhat circuitous, especially for Morris & Essex line commuters, delays are not a daily occurrence, and, moreover, NJ Transit says the track repair project is approximately half-way finished for an expected September 1 completion.

It was New York Governor Andrew Cuomo who allegedly coined the track repairs “the summer of hell,” conjuring up images in at least some people’s minds of crowded alternative mass transit options amid hot temperatures.

But, that wasn’t to be. NJ Transit had already been alerting its customers to the disruption in service in what NJ TRANSIT Executive Director Steve Santoro at the time called an “all-hands-on-deck effort to communicate with our customers,” so most riders were prepared.  Additionally, a range of options existed for some riders, whether they chose to head to Hoboken Terminal, Newark Penn Station, drive across bridges or through tunnels, ride a bus, take the New York Waterway ferry, or – for those who live just west of the Hudson River – bicycle across the George Washington Bridge.

The good news is that, again, the scenario is less inconvenient that anticipated for many customers.  The bad news?  The “disruption” is going well enough that NJ Transit allegedly might make additional repairs during future summers.

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