No Train Diversion For South-Orange Maplewood Commuters

MAPLEWOOD, NJ - SOMA commuters will not see their NYC trains diverted to Hoboken this summer according to Maplewood Mayor Vic DeLuca and South Orange Village President Sheena Collum

"I am happy to join Sheena Collum, South Orange Village President, in reporting that New Jersey Transit will not divert Morris and Essex Midtown Direct trains to Hoboken this summer," DeLuca said in a social media post. "This is great news. Sheena and I have continued to pressure NJ Transit to make sure our commuters are treated fairly. We will monitor summer train service and contact NJ Transit if any problems arise as a result of the scheduled track work."

According to DeLuca and Collum, Amtrak will take two tracks at New York Penn Station out of service between June 17 and Sept. 6 to repair rail interlockings at the east end of the station. This will limit access to Sunnyside Yard which is critical to NJT operations and peak period trains on the Montclair and Coast line will be diverted to Hoboken.

To prevent the possibility of unsafe overcrowding conditions at Newark Broad Street station resulting from customers transferring to and from NYC trains, Morris & Essex Midtown Direct trains traveling to NYC between 7 a.m. through 9:30 a.m. and trains traveling from NYC between 4:30 p.m. through 7 p.m. will not make station stops at Newark Broad Street.

As a result of operating with fewer tracks in NYC, some trains in/out of NYC may be required to utilize shorter platforms and will be required to have fewer cars. To preserve the maximum amount of peak period seats, some trains that currently operate with 10 cars will be reduced to 9 cars.

Some Morris & Essex Line Midtown Direct trains that leave NYC in the morning (reverse peak) will operate from Hoboken instead of Penn Station. And one off-peak train to NYC will terminate at Hoboken instead of PSNY. (Midtown Direct 6656).

There will be no changes to regular weekend service or holiday service schedules.

Updated information can be found on the NJ Transit website.

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