UPDATE: NJ Transit Starts Work On Vital Stairway Closed Months Ago
WOODBRIDGE, N.J. (CBSNewYork) – CBS2 demanded answers from NJ Transit about a potentially dangerous situation at the Metropark Station and on Monday commuters saw action.
NJ Transit posted pictures online showing crews working on a stairwell that's been closed since July.
The closure has forced crowds of frustrated passengers exiting trains to crush into the only remaining stairwell. An elevator at the station, which only fits five people, is also reportedly broken.
MORE: NJ Transit Riders Furious At Closed Stairway Causing Chaos At Station
Commuters complained of people pushing and shoving their way down the small passageway.
"It's such a hazard, it's pandemonium, it's not safe!" Steven Katz of Old Bridge told CBS2's Lisa Rozner.
"How can you need a part when it's a cement staircase?" one commuter questioned.
Passengers, who had been witnessing the same pandemonium week after week, tweeted the agency in August and September with no results until Monday's work began.
The widespread dissatisfaction was addressed by Gov. Phil Murphy recently, who released a 180-page audit of NJ Transit.
He recommends restructuring management and that the agency operate more like a business and less like a government agency.
NJ Transit says it's taking steps to make the stairwell repairs go as quickly as possible.
