NJ TRANSIT reports ongoing delays on North Jersey Coast Line due to bridge work

NJ TRANSIT has announced that rail service on its North Jersey Coast Line continues to experience delays of up to 20 minutes in both directions.

The disruptions are a result of single-track operations currently in effect over the River Draw Bridge near Perth Amboy, a necessary step for ongoing inspection and maintenance work.

The agency, which is the nation’s largest statewide public transportation system, advised commuters to build extra time into their travel plans. The North Jersey Coast Line provides service between Bay Head, New Jersey, and New York Penn Station.

The third-largest transit system in the United States, NJ TRANSIT provides more than 925,000 weekday trips across its extensive network, which includes 263 bus routes, three light rail lines, and 12 commuter rail lines.

The current delay highlights broader, systemic challenges facing the agency, which has contended with frequent service disruptions attributed to several persistent issues, including an aging train fleet, deteriorating infrastructure on lines shared with Amtrak, and occasional shortages in engineer and crew availability.

A significant portion of the agency’s operational challenges stems from infrastructure that requires constant maintenance.

Many key assets, like the century-old North River Tunnels, are beyond their useful life and prone to failure. Furthermore, mechanical failures with the aging multilevel railcar fleet and a lack of available equipment have been the primary causes of cancellations.

The agency is undertaking several initiatives to address these problems.

A major fleet replacement program is underway, with the first of 113 new multilevel III cars expected to enter service in the coming years. NJ TRANSIT is also pursuing federal grants for critical signal and power line upgrades and has expanded infrastructure inspection protocols.

Long-term, the massive Gateway Program, which includes the construction of new rail tunnels under the Hudson River, is designed to double capacity between New Jersey and New York and address one of the most critical bottlenecks in the Northeast Corridor.

These corrective measures are complex and capital-intensive.

Officials have indicated that improvements will take years to fully implement, meaning riders on the North Jersey Coast Line and across the system will likely continue to experience periodic disruptions for the foreseeable future.