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  • Discussion related to New Jersey Transit rail and light rail operations.
Discussion related to New Jersey Transit rail and light rail operations.

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 #1340322  by Ken W2KB
 
TrainPhotos wrote:I keep hearing alerts being sent about alternate travel options on co-workers phones. What's going on? NJT site has no specific information readily visible...
??? The alerts have been and are on the NJ front page all day, updated from time to time. The latest:
"Travel Alerts
Jul 22, 2015 03:01:40 PM
To ensure customers have alternate travel options for the remainder of the day, NJ TRANSIT will continue to cross honor NJ TRANSIT passes and tickets on NJ TRANSIT and private carrier buses, PATH and NY Waterway Hoboken Terminal South Ferry until midnight tonight. The quality of your commute during the last several days has been unacceptable, and we share in your frustration. We have been in contact with Amtrak at the highest levels, seeking solutions. Again, our apologies."

Only the latest notices are kept, once trains return to normal leaving older notices up would cause confusion. For example the M&E link has the above plus a note of a specific train running 15 minutes late.
 #1340324  by philipmartin
 
TrainPhotos wrote:I keep hearing alerts being sent about alternate travel options on co-workers phones. What's going on?
NJT sends information on service disruptions to local radio and TV stations. I subscribe to NJT e-mail travel alerts sent direct to the "in boxes" on my computers. Here are some sent today (7/22/15.) At 5:54am "Train service is suspended in and out of New York Penn due to Amtrak catenary problem."
At 6:18am "NEC service is suspended between Trenton and NY & NJCL service is suspended between Long Branch & Avenel. RVL (NY bound) service is suspended."
At 6:45am "Service has resumed on the NJCL and NEC with 60-90 minute delays due single tracking into/out of NY caused by an Amtrak power problems"
At 6:49am "The NY Waterway is accepting NJT rail tickets/passes in Hoboken Terminal." NY Waterway- that's a first for me.
Also, Midtown direct service was diverted to Hoboken; standard procedure when service in and out of New York is disrupted.
Last edited by philipmartin on Wed Jul 22, 2015 7:58 pm, edited 2 times in total.
 #1340357  by TrainPhotos
 
I get the alerts too, left my phone in work locker. Checking now, I see no mention of the issue that lead to the "talking with Amtrak, frustrating/sorry" alert. Simply cross honouring in effect, no reason was given why the cross honouring was implemented.

One would think that email or text alerts would have more detailed information. I'm not near nyc, so I have no idea what caused the disruption, neither did any of my co workers that take the train. The ones from up the 'pike were all ready here before the "disruption". What if I had to go on the train this morning? I'd show up to a station with no clue they had suspended service. Just irked me, I guess...
 #1340367  by time
 
The delays have been so bad, the New York Times ran a feature about it today.

Quotes from the article:
For the third day in a row, electrical problems in century-old rail tunnels under the Hudson River on Wednesday stymied the commutes of tens of thousands of New Jersey Transit riders, illustrating again the shortcomings of the region’s languishing infrastructure system.
The federal transportation secretary, Anthony Foxx, during an appearance in New York on Tuesday, called the lack of action to repair the shoddy tunnels “almost criminal.”
But federal officials and commuters alike said they were losing patience with efforts to reduce strain on the tunnels, which are 105 years old and which Amtrak has said will need to be temporarily shut down to repair damage from Hurricane Sandy. Commuter demand between New Jersey and Manhattan is expected to rise 38 percent by 2030.
 #1340382  by philipmartin
 
Two of the alerts I copied and pasted here mention Amtrak catenary problems and Amtrak power problems. Since I use this information as a ticket agent, I applied for alerts for all the weekday trains that go by my station. It was a chore applying for each train, but maybe that's why I got the "catenary problem" cause of the shut down.
 #1340447  by philipmartin
 
7600 series trains to be cancelled this coming weekend, July 25-26, and there will be 10 or 15 minute delays for other trains, account trackwork necessitating single tracking between Secaucus and Newark. The alert wasn't nice enough to tell us where 7600 series trains run, so I looked at a couple of timetables, and apparently they run between Rahway and New York.
http://www.njtransit.com/sa/sa_servlet. ... ntId=12784" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 #1340576  by time
 
Another day, another delay.
Trains into/out of Penn Station New York are subject to delays up to 30 minutes due to Amtrak overhead power problems. NJT rail passes/tickets will be cross-honored with NJT and private carrier buses, PATH at 33rd, Hoboken, Newark and NY Waterway in South Ferry at Hoboken Terminal.
 #1340702  by srepetsk
 
A little bit more information about the recent delays here: http://wtop.com/business/2015/07/riders ... ak-delays/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Sounds like the non-power-related delays are being blamed on catenary/power cabling in one or both of the tunnels.

Edit: Another, mentioning the problems stem from 2 of the HV cables from Hackensack/Penn failing (http://www.wnyc.org/story/amtrak-we-can ... ave-money/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;).
 #1340741  by philipmartin
 
Thanks for giving us the actual cause of the power problems, srepetsk. What seems a little odd is that the cables are supposed to run between Hackensack and New York. Is there a power plant in Hackensack that supplies the juice? I know that there is a big power plant a little closer, on the Hackensack River between Portal and Hack. And isn't there a railroad owned power plant across 31st street from Penn Station?
I rode a train from Raritan to New York yesterday morning, worrying about the reported delays, but we went out of Newark behind an Acella and had a fairly good ride to New York.
Last edited by philipmartin on Sat Jul 25, 2015 12:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
 #1340752  by srepetsk
 
philipmartin wrote:Thanks for giving us the actual case of the power problems, srepetsk. What seems a little odd is that the cables are supposed to run between Hackensack and New York. Is there a power plant in Hackensack that supplies the juice? I know that there is a big power plant a little closer, on the Hackensack River between Portal and Hack. And isn't there a railroad owned power plant across 31st street from Penn Station?
I rode a train from Raritan to New York yesterday morning, worrying about the reported delays, but we went out of Newark behind an Acella and had a fairly good ride to New York.
I don't know too many specifics about Amtrak's power setup, but according to all the articles I've read the issue(s) were between the Hackensack and Penn substations, not power being supplied to either. And apparently there was a disabled NJT train in one of the tunnels causing additional havoc on Monday, too: http://www.northjersey.com/news/christi ... -1.1380604" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 #1340760  by philipmartin
 
philipmartin wrote:7600 series trains to be cancelled this coming weekend, July 25-26, and there will be 10 or 15 minute delays for other trains, account trackwork necessitating single tracking between Secaucus and Newark. The alert wasn't nice enough to tell us where 7600 series trains run, so I looked at a couple of timetables, and apparently they run between Rahway and New York.
http://www.njtransit.com/sa/sa_servlet. ... ntId=12784" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Maybe this means that the 7600s are not cancelled for today and tomorrow, and there will be no 10 or 15 minuted delays. This is beyond my comprehension.
 #1340925  by philipmartin
 
Here's an alert for tomorrow:
"NJT rail passes/tickets will be cross-honored by NJT and private carrier buses, PATH at 33rd, Hoboken Terminal and Newark Penn Station and NY Waterway at South Ferry in Hoboken on Monday, July 27th due to ongoing Amtrak overhead power problems."
Last edited by philipmartin on Mon Jul 27, 2015 9:51 am, edited 1 time in total.
 #1340939  by Brandon4500
 
philipmartin wrote:Here's an alert for tomorrow:
NJT rail passes/tickets will be cross-honored by NJT and private carrier buses, PATH at 33rd, Hoboken Terminal and Newark Penn Station and NY Waterway at South Ferry in Hoboken on Monday, July 27th due to ongoing Amtrak overhead power problems.
I'm praying this doesn't become a regular thing. Sad part is, it looks like that's going to happen. :(
 #1340971  by alewifebp
 
I wonder if these power problems were related to the issue I had on Wednesday. I was scheduled to take train 3831 from Metropark to Trenton to catch the Pennsylvanian. Checking DepartureVision, all things seemed to be going good, with the train departing on time, but it was cancelled at Rahway, no reason was given. I had to do a last minute booking on another Amtrak train to make the connection. That was on time.
 #1341010  by philipmartin
 
alewifebp wrote:I wonder if these power problems were related to the issue I had on Wednesday. I was scheduled to take train 3831 from Metropark to Trenton to catch the Pennsylvanian. Checking DepartureVision, all things seemed to be going good, with the train departing on time, but it was cancelled at Rahway, no reason was given.
I can't answer that, but equipment failures, not related to the current overhead power problems, are common on NJT.
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