New NJ Transit train schedules take effect as part of budget cuts

On first day of new schedules, commuters, some conductors grumble after trains are standing-room-only

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.Amanda Brown/The Star-LedgerPeople board NJ Transit train 5903 to Plainfield in Newark Penn Station.

Jim Wolf initially came to praise NJ Transit, not bury it.

When he looked at new timetables resulting from the elimination of more than 30 NJ Transit trains systemwide — effective this week — Wolf’s early-morning commute from Millington to Manhattan seemed unaffected.

"They went about it in a thoughtful manner," he said earlier this month.

Then came a notice stating his train would make all local stops, delaying his arrival to Manhattan by 30 minutes and toppling the morning commuting routine he had followed for 17 years.

On his first day under the new system today, Wolf found himself in a standing-room-only train from Newark to New York.

"People were not happy, grumbling," he said. "Even some of the conductors were grumbling."

The train he used to get in Millington at 4:47 a.m. now arrives at the station at 5:05 a.m. Instead of arriving in Manhattan at 6:05 a.m., in time for Wolf to prepare the morning note for his financial company, his train now arrives at 6:35 a.m.

Wolf said that beginning next week, when his NJ Transit monthly train pass expires, he will try taking the bus, or perhaps carpool.

NJ Transit spokesman Dan Stessel said the agency expected to temporarily lose about 4 to 5 percent of its customers due to the service reductions and a 25-percent rail fare increase instituted on May 1.

So far, he said, the loss rate has been about 2.5 percent.

Stessel said there were no widespread reports of crowding on trains today, but the agency was continuing to monitor ridership.

The fare hikes and service reductions were intended to help close a $300 million budget hole for the fiscal year that begins on July 1.

Stessel said the bulk of the affected trains were in off-peak ridership hours.

"We set out to inconvenience as few people as possible while still generating cost savings," he said.

Jeff Tittel, director of the NJ Sierra Club, predicted the service cuts, coupled with the fare increases earlier this month, will lead to a downward spiral.

"Today starts the dismantling of one of the nation’s best transit systems," he said.

---

Related videos:

NJ Transit fare hike protest turns into one man crusade

Angry commuters respond to proposed NJ Transit fare hike

Chris Christie defends a fair hike for NJ Transit