NJ Transit and Amtrak announce transit system improvements – NBC New York (47)

NEW JERSEY – Amtrak and NJ TRANSIT joined Governor Phil Murphy on Wednesday to share progress on their joint program to inspect, maintain, and maintain Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor (NEC) infrastructure and NJ TRANSIT trains up and improve, which has increased service reliability for customers at the NEC. over the past few months.

The incident comes after the governor dealt with ongoing disruption in rail service affecting cyclists this summer.

The new report from Amtrak and NJ TRANSIT details the progress and analysis of grants awarded for nearly $300 million in federal funds to upgrade the state’s rail infrastructure.

“This summer, I brought Amtrak and NJ TRANSIT together to address the unacceptably long and disruptive train delays that were an ongoing problem this spring and early summer,” Governor Murphy said. “With today’s meeting, we are proud to announce that Amtrak has completed its review of the 240 miles of overhead catenary systems between Trenton and New York City. And while the fundamental challenge it faces As our public transportation system continues to age its infrastructure, we believe these completed repairs and upcoming infrastructure investments will ensure New Jersey residents have an easier time getting where they have to go when they have to get there.”

“While we are pleased with the progress that has improved trust for tens of thousands of NJ TRANSIT rail customers, our joint efforts will continue,” said NJ TRANSIT President and CEO Kevin S. Corbett.

The implementation of the joint action plan followed several service outages in May and June, along with several minor incidents that reduced service reliability on the NEC between Trenton and New York City.

Over the past five months, Amtrak and NJ TRANSIT have made the following improvements in the execution of their joint plan:

• Amtrak inspected 240 miles of catenary system track in the Northeast Corridor between Trenton and New York City and upgraded approximately 2,000 hardware components in the area.
• Amtrak conducted helicopter inspections of the entire NEC overhead catenary system between Trenton and the River North Tunnel, just outside New York’s Penn Station, and made 839 hardware replacements for defects the identification in more than 2,000 catenary structures captured from photographs taken during surveys.
• Amtrak conducted photographic surveys via a special high-speed vehicle of tunnels and tracks within New York’s Penn Station;
• Amtrak identified and repaired electric traction components and replaced overhead wires to ensure reliability.
• NJ TRANSIT and Amtrak increased equipment inspections and used high-definition video in addition to locomotives to document the interaction of NJ TRANSIT equipment with Amtrak cables.
• NJ TRANSIT completed visual and practical inspections of approximately 82 miles of catenary system track above its district.

In addition to these improvements, Amtrak recently received nearly $300 million in grants, requested with support from NJ TRANSIT and matching funds, from the FRA for several projects that will upgrade the region’s infrastructure. This includes funds to carry out additional planning, development or construction activities, such as:

• Amtrak’s Sawtooth Bridge Replacement Project received $187.5 million for final design and pre-construction services, including upgrades to track, signals, catenary and other infrastructure in the 2.5-mile 115-year NEC replacement span aged in Kearny.
• Amtrak’s Substation 41 Replacement Project, which will replace and protect a key point on Amtrak’s NEC electric traction system and protect it from potential flooding, has been awarded $80.2 million to build a new substation in Kearny.
• Amtrak Signal System improvements between New Brunswick and Elizabeth received $18.6 million for project development and design to upgrade the existing signal system along 26 miles of the NEC to increase train performance and improve speeds;
• Amtrak’s NEC catenary improvements from New Brunswick to Newark received $13.4 million to complete the project’s design and environmental review, which will result in the nearly 90-year-old catenary structures spanning 23 miles.