Possible NJ Transit "SOFT STRIKE"

Just thought of this now, but what role could be played by CSX, NS, and M&E if a strike does take place and it affects their operations? I'm assuming that there is no realistic other way for NS trains on the Southern Tier to access Croxton Yard which would be the big factor followed by freight customers not receiving needed cars and whatever PVs are currently stored in Whippany being stuck there.

Something tells me NJT has not told the whole story to anyone at CSX, NS, or M&E or even given a thought to freight operations over their tracks.

I don't think those railroads need NJT to alert them; they're probably working busily behind the scenes right now to decide what can be done to handle the situation.

Even during a strike you will see trains moving, probably even freight, with managers at dispatcher desk and some managers running patrol trains. due to liability they just won't be moving passengers.
the rail must be kept open and signal system checked on continuous cycles, or railroad would not be able to resume when strike is over.

Supposedly Metro North has some sort of contingency plan in place for West of Hudson service in the event of an NJT strike. I'm not sure what it entails, but I'm sure rubber wheels are involved somehow.

correct and the deluxe Motor Coach operations, do search several news articles on it.

jamesinclair wrote:The justification is that too few people make those trip to justify the service. IE: You cannot get from Elizabeth to NB for like 3 hours in the PM peak.

...without transferring. You forgot a critical two words.

jamesinclair wrote:Problem is, if the fares never get collected, no one actually knows how many people are making those trips!

Not enough. Let's be honest -- it's obvious even to me, who makes a more diverse set of intrastate trips than probably anyone you or I know (including a reverse commute Newark to New Brunswick several times a month, where there is still the unreasonable, IMO, nearly hour-long gap with no eastbound service whatsoever during the evening rush) and would benefit from a better intrastate schedule. An agency this chronically underfunded has to go for bang for the buck. Yeah, I suppose they'd do well to collect more fares, but if my company treated me so poorly, I don't know how hard I'd work at that either. Considering the number of riders with passes on some of these trains and the dollar value of some of these shorter trips, I bet they aren't losing much there anyway.

Did they change their mind from a "soft" strike ending on Monday to a "standard" strike?

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/03/nyreg ... uters.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

“They say they can’t afford it,” Mr. Burkert said. “Does that mean we work for the rest of our careers without a raise?”

That's what the grunts at 1 Penn Plaza have been living with for years now.

Soft Strike was wishful thinking, not anything I ever remember the unions talking about to the press...don't recall seeing any official quotes.

A "Soft Strike" is very difficult to do. One cannot shut down the railroad on Sunday and have it up and running completely for Monday rush hour. There are trains to be inspected, cars to be switched, trains to be positioned at the right locations. If one does none of that Sunday, one cannot really accomplish it in the early hours on Monday. A "fare strike" by not collecting the fares is not a real strike either because most of the unions cannot participate. For similar reasons one cannot do a strike by eliminating only some trains or by shutting down only some lines (selectively shutting down lines will gets one no friends in those communities anyway). It must be full strike or nothing.

Amtrak7 wrote:Did they change their mind from a "soft" strike ending on Monday to a "standard" strike?

There never were plans for a "soft strike", whatever the hell that is.

Heres the service plan:

http://www.njtransit.com/tm/tm_servlet. ... SE_ID=3035" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If you live and work in New Jersey, NJTransit extends you a complimentary finger.

And it looks like the freight railroads will be unable to serve customers on NJT or even move trains over NJT tracks.

Not using another roads lines is SOP in a strike. We offered to staff NK tower on the Lehigh line due to an impending Conrail strike to try and keep Raritan line service from being truncated at Cranford , but were rebuffed for a number of reasons including The American Train Dispatchers union on NJT did not want to participate. As we speak, negotiations are ongoing however the unions are not blinking citing two PEB's that basically stated what NJT is trying to implement, in it's proposed labor agreement, is way out of line with any other commuter rail property in the region or US. Undaunted Governor Cristie is trying to ram it through in his usual bull in a china shop manner. Nobody in labor wants a strike but living in the highest property taxed environment in North America and the state legislature passing a law requiring NJT employees to live in NJ, the squeeze is on. Couple this with a proposed massive increase in medical premiums NJT agreement employees would actually take less money home then they do today if they approved NJT's contract.

EuroStar wrote:A "Soft Strike" is very difficult to do. One cannot shut down the railroad on Sunday and have it up and running completely for Monday rush hour. There are trains to be inspected, cars to be switched, trains to be positioned at the right locations. If one does none of that Sunday, one cannot really accomplish it in the early hours on Monday. A "fare strike" by not collecting the fares is not a real strike either because most of the unions cannot participate. For similar reasons one cannot do a strike by eliminating only some trains or by shutting down only some lines (selectively shutting down lines will gets one no friends in those communities anyway). It must be full strike or nothing.

The article in the OP said it would run through the Monday AM rush, which implies return to work on Monday and prep for an afternoon resumption.

But that's not happening, apparently.