(The following article by Larry Higgs was posted on the Asbury Park Press website on January 12.)
TRENTON, N.J. — NJ Transit Executive Director George Warrington resigned as head of the state’s commuter agency to consider other opportunities.
“He literally informed us yesterday,” state Commissioner of Transportation Kris Kolluri said Thursday, after meeting with Warrington on Wednesday. “I’m sorry to see him go.”
Warrington, former executive director of Amtrak, was appointed NJ Transit’s executive director in March 2002 by then-Gov. James E. McGreevey.
“I’ve got several opportunities in front of me, and I’ll be exploring them,” Warrington said Thursday. “They’re the kinds of opportunities not to be ignored. I thought long and hard about it.”
Warrington admitted the decision wasn’t easy because he has a history with NJ Transit dating back to the agency’s beginnings in the early 1980s. He declined to say what the opportunities are or if they are in transportation.
“I’m not at a point where I’m ready to talk about those opportunities,” he said.
Warrington’s resignation is effective on March 31. Kolluri credited him for advancing the Trans-Hudson River Tunnel project, putting bilevel rail cars in service and overseeing NJ Transit’s largest ridership increase during his five years.
“He said it was the right decision at this point in his career,” Kolluri said. “The governor and I will respect his decision.”
Warrington said he’d like to be remembered for taking the Trans-Hudson River Tunnel from a dormant idea to winning support for it in New York and New Jersey and getting funding to advance it. The $7.5 billion project is in the engineering phase, and construction is scheduled to begin in 2009.
“Overall, we were happy with his term,” said Damien Newton, New Jersey coordinator for the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, an advocacy group. “He kept the agency focused on the (Hudson River) rail tunnel, which is a critical project for the region.”
Warrington announced his departure to NJ Transit employees in a memo Thursday, recapping accomplishments and thanking them for their work.
One commuter advocate credited Warrington with giving riders a place to sit.
“He got more service and more trains on the Northeast Corridor Line, it’s better than it was,” said Ralph Braskett, Committee for Better Transit state coordinator.
Braskett said the next director should have a stronger background in transit agency operations.