NEW JERSEY – NJ Transit resumed regular weekend rail service Saturday morning, about 12 hours after shutting down trains following a nightmarish day for commuters.
The transit agency said engineers were expected to report to work a day after calls related to an “illegal labor action” forced system-wide cancellations throughout the day and left passengers stranded before the start of the holiday weekend.
Only a handful of trains were canceled on Saturday morning, but none appeared to be due to a lack of engineers. The NJ Transit website blamed the few service interruptions on equipment availability, mechanical issues, and overhead wire issues.
The train schedule has seen a dramatic improvement since Friday, when most service from Penn Station, Newark and Hoboken ended at 8 p.m., with eastbound service ending at 10 p.m. NJ Transit said the suspension of rail service was due to “an illegal labor action initiated this morning by the locomotive engineers union (BLE&T).”
The first signs of traffic chaos were on Friday morning’s commute when dozens of trains failed to show up and passengers on a handful of lines were left asking for an explanation.
Service alerts filled social media and NJ Transit’s website citing “engineer availability” issues that led to the influx of schedule issues. By the end of the morning rush hour, a couple dozen trains had been cancelled.
NJ Transit said the call rate from engineers on Friday was nearly triple that of an average weekday.
The shattered day for public transport came about due to a planned labor action by engineers who are still negotiating a new contract, multiple sources told our sister network. News 4. Juneteenth was recognized as a state holiday on Friday in New Jersey, but engineers without a current contract do not receive vacation pay.
Rumors of a labor action began to circulate Thursday when NJ Transit sent a letter to the engineers’ union warning workers to miss work Friday.
Engineers who didn’t show up for work forced service cancellations on several train lines on Friday. The Northeast Corridor and the North Jersey Coast Line were particularly affected.
A spokesman for NJ Transit said calls to miss work for engineers on Friday were triple those for an average weekday.
“NJ Transit is disappointed that the union is perpetuating such an act on the more than 100,000 customers who depend on NJ Transit rail service every day. We intend to explore all legal remedies in response to this illegal and irresponsible action,” he said. a spokesperson for NJ Transit in a statement to our sister network NBC News 4 New York.
Calling the engineers’ actions “illegal,” NJ Transit said it would pursue all possible legal remedies in response to the labor action. More than 40 trains were canceled in the afternoon.
Messages seeking comment from the engineers’ union went unanswered.
In the midst of the afternoon commute, NJ Transit issued a travel advisory to suspend early train service and the last trains left New York, Newark and Hoboken between approximately 7:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.
Passengers with rail tickets will be accepted on NY Waterway buses, light rail lines, PATH trains and ferries.
The engineers’ union did not immediately respond to multiple requests for comment about the absences.
NJ Transit said it expects workers to report to work Saturday morning and doesn’t anticipate any more service disruptions. The agency hopes to run a regular weekend schedule.
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