NJ TRANSIT and Amtrak joined Gov. Phil Murphy on April 15 for a working summit ahead of the busy summer 2025 travel season in New Jersey. During the meeting, Amtrak and NJ TRANSIT presented a new progress report on the joint inspection, maintenance and improvement program for Amtrak’s infrastructure and NJ TRANSIT’s trains.
Targeted work between the two agencies over the past year has produced significant upgrades that are expected to mitigate major service disruptions and address incidents that customers experienced in May and June of 2024.
“Over the past year, we have been working diligently to address many of the issues that riders endured during the summer of 2024,” said Gov. Murphy. “In partnership with Amtrak, we have embarked on an ambitious effort to increase inspections, accelerate repairs and expand funding for capital investments. We are pleased to announce today that Amtrak has now agreed to welcome a senior-level staff member with NJ TRANSIT into their New York Penn Station control center, which will help the two agencies engage in continuous collaboration. We will continue to work together so we can ensure that the people of New Jersey get where they need to go — safely and on time.”
“Amtrak and NJ TRANSIT customers should feel confident in their travel this summer thanks to the leadership from Gov. Murphy and the New Jersey congressional delegation and all the hard work Amtrak and NJ TRANSIT teams accomplished this past year together to provide the reliable travel experience our customers deserve,” said Amtrak President Roger Harris. “But the job isn’t done. We have more improvements underway, and we are encouraged by the results so far that will lead to more upgrades and better service.”
“NJ TRANSIT understands how vital dependable rail service is for the tens of thousands of customers who rely on the Northeast Corridor every day. Since last June, substantial progress has been made on infrastructure and equipment upgrades that should significantly lower the risk of experiencing a repeat of last summer’s service issues,” said NJ TRANSIT President & CEO Kris Kolluri. “We remain committed to making necessary schedule adjustments to support Amtrak’s ongoing upgrades to the overhead wires ahead of the summer — essential work that strengthens the future of this corridor. Service reliability remains our top priority, and we deeply value our continued collaboration with Amtrak to deliver a better, more reliable travel experience for all our customers.”
The execution of Amtrak and NJ TRANSIT’s joint action plan, under Gov. Murphy’s leadership, followed several major service disruptions in May and June 2024, together with a variety of smaller incidents that reduced service reliability on the Northeast Corridor between Trenton and New York City. Following last June’s public meeting with Gov. Murphy, Amtrak and NJ TRANSIT outlined immediate actions, investigations, inspections and repairs that both companies undertook together to address these issues and provided updates on these measures in August and November. These comprehensive actions have greatly contributed to a noticeable decline in similar occurrences over the past several months, as NJ TRANSIT’s on-time performance has returned to over 90%.
For a comprehensive list of improvements, click the link below:
Amtrak and NJ TRANSIT announce infrastructure and equipment improvements
