(The following article by Maria Newman was posted on the New York Times’ website on August 1.)
NEW YORK — New Jersey Transit officials said yesterday that they would make basic changes, like equipping crew members with bullhorns and radios, to improve communications with riders in the event of a train delay or accident.
They said they would also send the first available train to pick up stranded passengers if a train was affected by delays.
The changes are part of a package of improvements adopted by the New Jersey Transit board of directors yesterday in response to a July 14 derailment in Secaucus that caused minor injuries to at least 13 people. The derailment also caused long delays for thousands of commuters between Newark and New York.
“It was clear that N.J. Transit’s response to the July 14 derailment was inadequate,” said Jack Lettiere, the board chairman and state transportation commissioner.
The changes were recommended by a 22-member task force that transit officials formed to look at ways to improve the system’s response to emergencies like the derailment.
The need for such changes was made clear again on Monday, when an Amtrak train knocked down overhead power lines on the Northeast Corridor line in New Jersey, delaying some passengers on both Amtrak and New Jersey Transit trains for hours.
Many of those passengers complained that railroad crew members did not communicate enough with them about the nature of the problem or how long they would be delayed.
In addition to equipping crew members with bullhorns and radios, transit officials said they would also increase the number of crew members on some trains to assist passengers in emergencies.
Also, in response to a frequent complaint by commuters that they can never understand announcements made over the public address system, transit officials said they would conduct an inventory of the address systems at all stations and on all trains to identify those that are not working properly, and assess where more speakers are needed.
Within 90 days, the agency will also provide crew members and ticket agents with advanced customer service training and will conduct emergency drills before the end of the year.
The task force, which included representatives from two unions for transit workers, interviewed more than 100 customers and reviewed e-mail messages from customers about how the system could improve communications and service.
Last week, transit officials said they would give a 15 percent refund to commuters with July monthly train passes to make up for the delays, which include the derailment and Monday’s power failure. George D. Warrington, the transit system’s executive director, said at least 59,000 customers qualify for the refund.
“It’s important that our nearly 800,000 daily riders hear loud and clear that good customer service is paramount to our business,” he said.