Money To Fix NJ Transit Nearly Gone As Delays Continue

NJ Transit’s problems with delays continued on Tuesday, but the news gets worse.

New Jersey’s Transportation Trust Fund, which provides federal money for repairs and improvements to the state’s bridges, highways and mass transit, could run out within days, according to news12.com.

Public officials say the timing couldn’t be worse, since the state’s mass transit system has been plagued by several weeks of delays, compounded by back-and-forth arguments between Amtrak, Gov. Chris Christie and NJ Transit over who’s-to-blame.

Trains in and out of New York Penn Station on Tuesday were subject to delays of up to 20 minutes because of an earlier Amtrak overhead wire problem - an issue that has impacted NJ Transit travel for two weeks.

Passes/tickets were to be cross-honored by NJ Transit and private carrier buses, PATH at 33rd, Hoboken and Newark Penn, and NY Waterway in Hoboken.

New Jersey Sens. Cory Booker and Robert Menendez say they’re going to do what they can within the next three days to provide some sort of fix.

“New Jerseyans, as many Americans, should be ticked off,” Booker told News12. “We inherited from our grandparents the best infrastructure on the globe and we’ve squandered our inheritance.”

For years, New Jersey’s lawmakers have been looking for ways to replenish the fun, but Christie and others in the state Legislature have nixed talk of raising the tax on gasoline or increasing tolls.

Commuters, meanwhile, have been looking for someone to blame after three days of delays last week, and two days this week caused by electrical problems in 100-old rail tunnels under the Hudson River.

The problems come just weeks after NJ Transit approved a budget that will have rail and bus users pay an average 9 percent increase in fares - a $2.1 billion operating plan that supports continued investments in infrastructure, the agency said.

But the problems also raised new questions about Christie’s 2010 decision to halt construction of a new rail tunnel - a project that could have nearly doubled the transit capacity heading in and out of New York City.

Federal Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx called the lack of action to repair the “shoddy” tunnels “almost criminal,” according to a New York Times report. NJ Transit, meanwhile, took to Twitter to blame Amtrak for not doing enough to maintain the transportation route.

NJ Transit blamed Amtrak, saying in a release that the agency pays Amtrak “approximately $100 million annual towards keeping the Northeast Corridor running. We have requested of Amtrak to know if our money is truly going towards reliable rail service for our customers.”

Amtrak released its own statement, apologizing to commuters for the delays.

Christie, however, changed course - slightly - last week when he told Larry Kudlow of WABC that he would be in favor of building a tunnel - if he’s elected president.

“If I’m president of the United States, I call a meeting between my secretary of transportation, the governor of New York, and the governor of New Jersey, and I say, “If we’re all in this even Steven, if we’re all going to put in an equal share, then let’s go build these tunnels underneath the Hudson River and walk away as equals. We’re all equal for the upfront costs, and we’re all equal for the cost overruns.”

Booker, meanwhile, has joined in the fray when people have taken to Twitter to respond to NJ Transit’s announcements.

• Alexandra Capotorto @itsmealexandra: @NJTRANSIT It’s going to take us commuters rioting to get you to see things clearly, isn’t it? Should we push the trains over? #njtransit
• Bryan @CelebInterviewr: @NJTRANSIT your service is horrendous. Undependable and expensive. Can’t wait to pay 9% more in October.
• patrickdaly @patrickdaly: @NJTRANSIT @CoryBooker Senator, the state of our rail system costs the NJ economy hundreds of millions a year. It is a national disgrace.
• Cory Booker @CoryBooker: @patrickdaly I agree we have a profound crisis. Cost estimates for individual tax payers are as high as 2K a year.
• Cory Booker @CoryBooker: @patrickdaly My team is fighting on this issue in Washington. If you’d like to know what we are doing & what others need to do please call: George Helmy in my office: 973 639 8700

The New York Post predicted “tunnel-mageddon” unless construction starts soon on new rail tunnels:

The clock’s ticking on tunnel-mageddon.

Unless construction starts soon on new rail tunnels under the Hudson, Jersey commuters headed for Penn Station could lose (better sit down) 80 percent of service at some point in the years ahead.

Think commutes are hellish now? Just wait.

And it won’t be just New Jersey train riders who’d suffer — but the whole region.

The problem: The 105-year-old twin tunnels that handle train traffic under the river need vital repairs, especially after the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy. And no other tracks can pick up the load