NJ Transit Cutting Some Bay Head Trains During Safety System Work

New Jersey Transit riders who take the North Jersey Coastline trains from Bay Head will be seeing changes to the train schedule come June, including some trains being discontinued, NJ Transit has announced.

NJ Transit said the changes will affect the weekday schedule and will be temporary while it installs positive train control equipment on the rail fleet. Positive train control is a system designed to automatically stop a train before certain accidents occur.

"To accommodate this critical safety upgrade, weekday rail schedules are being adjusted to allow for hardware components to be installed on locomotives and cab cars," NJ Transit said.

The changes begin June 4 and trains that are discontinued are expected to resume service in early 2019.

NJ Transit has been under pressure to get the work completed following a 2016 crash of a train in the Hoboken terminal that killed one woman and injured 114 people. A lack of PTC on NJ Transit's rail line was cited in the debate that followed the crash.

"NJ Transit understands that any change to the train schedule has an impact on the travel patterns of our customers," Executive Director Kevin Corbett said. "We are doing everything in our power to install this important safety technology as quickly as possible. I ask for customers’ patience during this process as the end result is a safer railroad for everyone."

The following trains will be temporarily discontinued or have a change in origin. Customers are strongly encouraged to view the full timetables on njtransit.com for all travel options, officials said.

NORTH JERSEY COAST LINE

INBOUND

Customers may take alternate service to Secaucus and transfer to service to Hoboken at no extra charge

Train 2300, the 4:49 a.m. departure from Bay Head to Hoboken

• There is no earlier option between Bay Head and Long Branch. Earlier option departs Long Branch at 4:58 a.m. (Train 2300 departed Long Branch at 5:27 a.m.)
• Later option departs Bay Head at 4:57 a.m.

Train 2602, the 6:05 a.m. departure from Long Branch to Hoboken

• Earlier option departs at 6:01 a.m.
• Later option departs at 6:19 a.m.

Train 2312, the 2:05 p.m. departure from Bay Head to Hoboken

• Earlier option departs at 1:10 p.m.
• Later option departs at 3:05 p.m.

Train 3274, the 6:55 p.m. departure from Long Branch to PSNY

• Earlier option departs at 6:33 p.m.
• Later option departs at 7:20 p.m.

OUTBOUND

Customers may take alternate service to Secaucus and transfer to service to Long Branch/Bay Head at no extra charge

Train 2303, the 2:12 p.m. departure from Hoboken to Bay Head

• Earlier option departs at 2:02 p.m. from Newark Penn (From Newark Penn - 2303 departed Newark at 2:36 p.m.)
• Later option departs at 3:05 p.m. (From Newark Penn)

Train 2607, the 4:55 p.m. departure from Hoboken to Long Branch

• Earlier option departs at 4:54 p.m. from Newark Penn (From Newark Penn – 2607 departed Newark at 5:18 p.m.)
• Later option departs at 5:25 p.m. from Newark Penn

Train 2313, the 6:21 p.m. departure from Hoboken to Bay Head

• Earlier option departs at 6:22 p.m. from Newark Penn (From Newark Penn – 2313 departed Newark at 6:40 p.m.)
• Later option departs at 6:47 p.m. from Newark Penn

The following trains will be restored to/from Penn Station New York and will no longer operate to/from Hoboken. The trains were diverted to Hoboken in January as part of Amtrak track work at Penn Station New York.

Train 3318 will depart Bay Head at 5:40 a.m. and arrive at Penn Station New York at 7:42 a.m.

Train 3269 will depart Penn Station New York at 5:45 p.m. and arrive in Long Branch at 7:24 p.m.

Photo by Eric Kiefer, Patch staff