Atlantic City Rail Line Finally Reopens Sunday
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- It's a familiar sound Cherry Hill commuters thought they would never hear again -- the hum of a train, as it rolled into Cherry Hill Station Sunday.
New Jersey Transit's Atlantic City Line is back up and running for the first time since it was shut down last September. It's great news for commuters.
"It doesn't pay to drive," Murray Ianni said.
Ianni heads to Atlantic City often. No train meant driving and that took a bite out of his budget.
"Where I go, to the Borgata, you have to pay $5 to park," Ianni said. "This [train] is convenient."
Gov. Phil Murphy closed the line last September. Lawmakers say new braking systems needed to be installed, which took a lot of diesel engines out of commission.
The hope was that the line would have been back open by January. Lawmakers say the delay drove an economic hole in South Jersey.
"It's not only about Atlantic City, it's about people getting to Philadelphia," New Jersey Assemblywoman Patricia Egan Jones said.
"They shut down a portion of the state in need of transportation," said Senator Nilsa Cruz-Perez.
The Atlantic City Rail Line goes from 30th Street Station in Philadelphia to Atlantic City. It's one of the only South Jersey linse.
Jones says the buses that were provided to people were not convenient. But now the ticket machines are buzzing again, the platform is bustling with commuters and the train line is making traveling a little smoother for residents.
Check out the new Atlantic City Rail Line schedule here.