No Immediate Relief for NJ Transit Commuters

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy returned from his Italian vacation to a trainload of seething NJ Transit commuters frustrated by a week of cancellations and delays. Delays and last-minute cancellations have become increasingly common this summer, with more than 30 trains canceled last Friday alone.

"I don't blame commuters one bit for their anger or cynicism," Murphy told the press Thursday, following a closed-door meeting with NJ Transit officials.

That's two trains in a row. What the [summer of] hell is going on over there? Do you even care? @GovMurphy @PhilMurphyNJ @SenBooker someone had to be paying attention here. Looks like @lyft is going to make a lot of money today... #NJTransitfail

— Lillian Mondaro (@njcoffeejunkie) August 9, 2018

But he said mechanical failures and breakdowns have had little do with the rash of cancellations. Instead, officials are blaming them on staff shortages. Though Murphy said most locomotive engineers are "highly trained" and "highly motivated," a few are spoiling things for everyone else by calling out at the last minute.

"Many of the frustrating last minute cancellations have stemmed from unscheduled call-outs by engineers," Murphy said. "To these instances, our administration is making it known that we need and expect everyone to report to their jobs as scheduled."

NJ Transit engineer's union General Chairman James Brown spoke to us this afternoon about engineers calling out. He said: "Do some abuse the system? Absolutely. But it's not all bad apples. Some are tired, or they've used up their sick days...1/2

— Brenda Flanagan (@FlanaganNJTV) August 9, 2018

A spokesman for the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, the union representing the workers, didn't respond to WNYC's request for comment.

But the agency's woes go beyond unscheduled call-outs. NJ Transit is also running short on engineers and there's not much the agency can do about in the short term, since it takes 20 months for new hires to complete training.

Transportation Commissioner Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti put much of the blame on the administration of former Governor Chris Christie, which she said did little to recruit and train a new generation of engineers.

"This is an organization run on human capital," Gutierrez-Scaccetti said. "I can have all the brand new cars I want, but if I don't have engineers it does not matter."

NJ Transit is also facing a Dec. 31 deadline to install updated train safety technology mandated by the federal government, which is set to lead to a further reduction in service until the job is completed. To ease the pain, Murphy said the agency will improve how it communicates delays and cancellations to commuters.