NJ Transit Sets Date For Dinky Rail Line To Reopen

PRINCETON, NJ — NJ Transit's Princeton Branch (Dinky) Rail Line will resume service on May 24, the public transportation service announced Wednesday evening. NJ Transit Executive Director Kevin Corbett made the announcement during a public forum in Cherry Hill.

"Providing a clear date of restoration is the right thing to do for our customers, so that they can regain the use of the service and the confidence in its reliability, which are both so critical to their mobility," Governor Phil Murphy said one day after telling NJ Transit it needed to announce a date for the restoration of service. "I am pleased to see that the Princeton Dinky, which is so important to thousands of commuters, and the Atlantic City Rail Line, which is a key part of the life blood of the Jersey Shore, will be operating in time for Memorial Day weekend and the kickoff to the summer tourism season."

NJ Transit announced that services to the Atlantic City Rail Line will resume on the same date.

Until service is restored to Dinky, beginning March 1, NJ Transit will begin offering Dinky customers a 25 percent discount on the Princeton to Princeton Junction portion of their trip only – not the entire trip, NJ Transit spokesperson Jim Smith announced.

The Dinky Rail Line has been closed since October. NJ Transit officials said in December that they had met a milestone for the installation of federally mandated safety mechanisms.

Earlier in the day, NJ Transit announced that it had received Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) approval on its submission for the Positive Train Control (PTC) alternative schedule, which allows for full PTC implementation by the end of 2020. In approving the request, the FRA certified that NJ TRANSIT successfully met all the criteria required by the end of 2018.

"This approval recognizes all the hard work that so many of our employees and contractors performed over the course of 2018," Corbett said. "We had to accomplish four years’ worth of work in just 10 months and couldn’t have been successful without the support and guidance from our partners at the FRA. I would particularly like to thank FRA Administrator Ron Batory and his PTC team. There is still much work to be done before December 2020, and we’re not slowing down until PTC is fully implemented."

In December, NJ Transit submitted to the FRA a request for an alternate schedule which allows for full PTC implementation by Dec. 31, 2020. At that time, NJ Transit also submitted documentation that it had met the six statutory requirements to qualify for the alternate schedule. The six criteria are:

• Installation of PTC system hardware including on 282 locomotives/cab cars, 120 wayside interface units and 112 poles.
• Acquired all wireless spectrum necessary.
• Completed training of at least 823 employees.
• Initiated field functionality testing on a segment from Summit to Denville.
• Included an alternative schedule for implementing PTC as soon as practicable, but not later than December 31, 2020.
• Certified to FRA, in writing, that NJ TRANSIT will be in full compliance with the requirements on or before the deadline in the proposed alternative schedule.

See related:

• Dinky Discounts To Begin March 1 For Riders
• Federal Shutdown Affecting Restoration Of Princeton Dinky Service

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