(The following article by Joe Malinconico was posted on the Newark Star-Ledger website on January 21. Bob Vallochi is the BLET General Chairman for New Jersey Transit.)
NEWARK, N.J. — The failure of a 60-year-old Amtrak power cable near a bridge in Newark prompted NJ Transit to shut down service on three rail lines yesterday morning, causing disruptions for tens of thousands of commuters, officials said.
For 90 minutes, from about 6:12 a.m. until 7:45 a.m., NJ Transit shut down service on its busy Northeast Corridor, North Jersey Coast and Raritan Valley lines because dozens of signals lost power on a 5-mile stretch of track around Newark Penn Station.
Many commuters switched to cars, buses or ferries. Others waited for rail service to resume. Some simply went back home.
Although the signals — similar to traffic lights — went dead, the overhead wires that provide power to the trains were still working.
That confronted NJ Transit with a difficult choice: Shut down all service on the three commuter lines or keep running trains with special procedures that would have required engineers to stop at each signal and await radio approval from dispatchers before moving on.
“Trains would have been stacking up behind the trains stopped at the dark signals and you would have had trains backed up easily all the way to Woodbridge and Metropark and probably beyond,” NJ Transit spokesman Dan Stessel said.
“I think they made the right decision,” said Bob Vallochi, head of the engineers union at NJ Transit. “You would have had major confusion and chaos out there if they tried to run those trains with dark signals.”
Some rail advocates suggested NJ Transit should have continued running trains on those sections of the three lines where the signals were still working. Transit officials said that would have created logistical difficulties in getting trains turned around and would have caused confusion among riders about where trains were heading.
More than 90 trains either were canceled or delayed. Trains already running through that area when the signals lost power continued along at snail’s pace, stopping at each of the dozens of signals and waiting for approval from dispatchers before they proceeded at low speeds.
Amtrak, which owns the tracks, continued running its trains, but experienced delays of more than an hour in some cases.
Amtrak spokesman Cliff Black said the failed high-voltage cable would be replaced over the weekend. Railroad crews were able to get the signals working again by sending power to them through other wires, a process that took a few hours.
Over the years, NJ Transit officials said they have been able to install a power rerouting system on their signals that works within minutes.
The massive disruption highlighted Amtrak’s financial difficulties and the impact they have had on its ability to maintain its rail infrastructure.
“Amtrak isn’t putting anything into their signal system,” said Bob Daniels, a legislative liaison for NJ Transit’s engineers union.
“Sure, today’s failure is a symptom of an older system, but we’re beginning to catch up,” Black said.
For example, Black said, Amtrak has begun work on a $12 million overhaul of the signals and signal control systems at the tracks at the north end of Newark Penn Station, the same area where yesterday’s breakdown happened.
Black acknowledged, however, that the $12 million project does not include the replacement of power lines like the one that failed yesterday.