(Newshouse News Service circulated the following story by Tom Feeney on January 18.)
NJ Transit rail customers would face severe service disruptions if nine unions representing Amtrak workers go on strike as threatened on Jan. 30, NJ Transit Executive Director Richard Sarles warned yesterday.
NJ Transit would not be able to run trains into Manhattan if Amtrak workers strike. The agency would be forced to shut down its busiest rail line, which runs entirely on Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor tracks.
NJ Transit would respond to an Amtrak strike by running shuttle buses between its rail stations and the PATH stations in Newark, Harrison and Hoboken, Sarles said after the NJ Transit board’s monthly meeting in Atlantic City yesterday. Sarles estimated that it would be able to accommodate only between 40 and 50 percent of the passengers it carries during the typical daily peak period.
The passengers lucky enough to find a ride to a PATH station could still face a grueling trip into Manhattan. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates PATH, will not be able to add peak period trains because the system already runs at capacity, said Mark La Vornga, a spokesman for the agency.
There is available capacity on the ferries that run between Hoboken and midtown Manhattan, and additional boats could be added if an Amtrak strike causes a spike in demand, said Pat Smith, a spokesman for ferry operator New York Waterway.