NJT Service Resumes On North Jersey Coast Line
TRENTON, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Service has resumed on the NJ TRANSIT rail line that sustained the worst damage during Superstorm Sandy.
Trains are rolling again on the North Jersey Coast line between Bay Head and New York City and Hoboken.
WCBS 880's Paul Murnane reports
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The line has been suspended since Oct. 28 after several boats and cargo containers became wedged on a drawbridge that the line crosses near South Amboy, and a bridge over Raritan Bay was shifted by the storm surge.
Service between Long Branch and New York will operate on a regular schedule Monday, though some trains will be cancelled. Service between Bay Head and Long Branch will operate on a regular schedule except for some trains to and from Hoboken that will not run.
While continued service restorations for New Jersey commuters is good news, there is a report that NJ TRANSIT may have ignored warning signs about the superstorm that could have prevented damage to some of their trains.
One quarter of the agency's fleet at yards in Hoboken and Kearny was damaged by flood water.
According to a Reuters report, the trains were left in those yards after forecasters released maps showing surrounding areas that were susceptible to flooding prior to the storm.
NJ TRANSIT spokesman John Durso Jr. said a review is under way -- a routine step after such an event.
"It won't be more difficult to run things and I think that it remains to be seen how the impact will be throughout the week," he told WCBS 880's Paul Murnane.
Durso said the flooding that occurred in those yards was unprecedented.
"The rail yards in Kearny as well as Hoboken had never been inundated before, even during past storms such as Irene and Floyd," he said.
The agency said as the storm moved in, it had equipment scattered throughout the region but it was clear that no corner of the rail system would go untouched.
There were 37 rail cars and 12 engines left in Hoboken. Some trains parked in the Kearny and Hoboken yards were there for repairs before the storm hit.
In all, 261 of the agency's passenger rail cars and 63 of its locomotives sustained damage and are in line for repairs, Durso said. The agency has 203 locomotives and 1,162 cars.
In addition to Hoboken and Kearny, NJ TRANSIT stores train cars and locomotives at rail yards in Waldwick, Great Notch, Dover, Suffern, Port Morris, Bay Head, Morrisville and Raritan.
Three weeks after the storm, 90 percent of NJ TRANSIT's peak service is back up and running.
For more information, visit njtransit.com.
(TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
