Power problems causing Amtrak and NJT delays

Amtrak spokesman Craig Schulz said in an email that the problem is restricting the operation of trains to 3-at-a-time through the Hudson River Tunnel.

For the fourth time this week, New Jersey Transit commuters headed for Manhattan are encountering major delays.

Travelers using NJ Transit trains were “victimized” by extreme delays and cancellations throughout the system this week because of “Amtrak’s indifference to New Jersey commuters and its abject neglect of the infrastructure that New Jersey and our entire region relies upon”, Christie said in a statement.

Riders faced more than an hour-long delay Monday night due to an Amtrak problem. More than 2,000 trains operated by Amtrak or commuter rail lines run each day on the Northeast corridor, according to Amtrak.

Gov. Christie Christie (R), meanwhile, ignored reporters questions during an appearance in Spring Lake on Thursday.

That same circuit breaker failed the next morning, after signal problems in Princeton.

Last year Boardman said damage from Superstorm Sandy in 2012 would force Amtrak to shut down one of the tunnel’s tubes for repairs within less than 20 years. Bob Menendez, ranking member of the Senate subcommittee on housing, transportation, and community development, said Friday.

During a taped interview set to air on WABC radio on Saturday, Christie said that if he were elected president, he’d get additional tunnel capacity built, according to a report by Politico. “So we have to juggle on a constant basis what we take down in order to get the work done”.

Funding for Amtrak has long been a contentious issue in Congress. In May the House Appropriations Committee voted to cut Amtrak’s budget for next year to $1.1 billion, a $251 million reduction and voted down a Democratic effort to boost federal funds for the railroad by more than $1 billion.

The delays “demonstrate the urgent need for infrastructure renewal and improvement, including a new tunnel under the Hudson River”, he said.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a 2016 Republican presidential candidate, on Friday blamed Amtrak for a week of nightmarish commutes to and from New York and called on the Obama administration and Congress to “step up their responsibility”, and fix the problems.

“The quality of your commute during the last several days has been unacceptable, and we share in your frustration”, the rail service said in a statement.