by SomervilleRailfan
I was coming home from an event at NJPAC and got to Newark Penn to take the 1:05 a.m. RVL train. I was told the line was shut down and we would be bussed to Cranford, where a train would be waiting for us. (The bus also took people to Union and Roselle Park stations to get their cars.)
Well...no train waiting in Cranford. The PA system did say there had been a derailment between Newark and Union...and that the RVL was totally shut down. A call to NJT police was able to get us more info (and let NJT know there was a busload of people stuck in Cranford at 1:00 a.m.). Finally the transit cops told us the line was back up and running, but that there were going to be delays in service.
The train that finally arrived was the 1:05 out of Newark -- the one we would all have been on if we hadn't been bussed to Cranford -- running about 15 minutes late.
So, two questions:
1. What's the story about the derailment?
2. Why in God's name does the NJT info line not stay open -- or at least have its message updated -- in cases like this? Calling NJT's 800-number only got a recorded message that NJT info was closed. We wouldn't have known anything if someone hadn't thought to call the NJT cops.
Well...no train waiting in Cranford. The PA system did say there had been a derailment between Newark and Union...and that the RVL was totally shut down. A call to NJT police was able to get us more info (and let NJT know there was a busload of people stuck in Cranford at 1:00 a.m.). Finally the transit cops told us the line was back up and running, but that there were going to be delays in service.
The train that finally arrived was the 1:05 out of Newark -- the one we would all have been on if we hadn't been bussed to Cranford -- running about 15 minutes late.
So, two questions:
1. What's the story about the derailment?
2. Why in God's name does the NJT info line not stay open -- or at least have its message updated -- in cases like this? Calling NJT's 800-number only got a recorded message that NJT info was closed. We wouldn't have known anything if someone hadn't thought to call the NJT cops.