Gov. Murphy calls for Amtrak investment after cable issues cause hourslong delays

Gov. Phil Murphy called on Amtrak to make investments to shore up infrastructure vulnerabilities and expand backup transportation options after a cable failure in Kearny Wednesday caused delays that persisted into Thursday morning.

The outage — the second delay caused by Amtrak cables this week — ground the nation’s busiest commuter rail line to a halt for hours, stranding commuters up and down the Acela corridor for hours.

“I refuse to accept these Amtrak infrastructure challenges as an inevitable part of operating integrated mass transit systems,” the governor said in a letter to the agency. “We can and must do better for our customers and constituents.”

NJ Transit leases Amtrak rails that run from Trenton to New York Penn Station, paying more than $100 million annually to repair the wear and tear its trains cause on railways.

Amtrak issues were responsible for 102 cancellations in April, lagging only mechanical issues (121 cancellations) and infrastructure issues — a category that includes track maintenance and signal issues, among others — according to NJ Transit.

Cancellation causes vary broadly from month to month, and Amtrak does not typically account for a majority or plurality of delays. In February, for example, NJ Transit cited Amtrak as the cause of 29 cancellations out of a total of 184.

But Amtrak delays can be frequent. Last May, the quasi-public corporation was responsible for 317 cancellations, more than three-fourths of all cancellations that month amid electrical issues at the Portal Bridge.

Amtrak-related cancellations in the first four months of 2024 are up significantly year-over-year. NJ Transit cited Amtrak as the cause of 329 cancellations from Jan. 1 to April 30, compared to 90 during the same period in 2023.

“It’s clear there is much work to be done as these issues are becoming more frequent and more impactful, disrupting the quality of life of these residents of New Jersey,” Murphy said in the letter, calling for a meeting between his senior staff and counterparts at Amtrak.

Gery Williams, Amtrak’s executive vice president of service delivery & operations, relayed an apology to commuters and said the agency would seek to prevent further incidents.

“An investigation continues into the cause of yesterday’s incident,” he said. “We will implement any changes to avoid a similar incident like yesterday from happening again.”