Sponsored by:
Assemblyman ROBERT AUTH
District 39 (Bergen and Passaic)
Assemblyman JOHN F. MCKEON
District 27 (Essex and Morris)
Assemblywoman NANCY F. MUNOZ
District 21 (Morris, Somerset and Union)
Assemblywoman HOLLY SCHEPISI
District 39 (Bergen and Passaic)
Assemblyman JOHN S. WISNIEWSKI
District 19 (Middlesex)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblymen DiMaio, Rooney, Ciattarelli, Carroll, Webber, Wolfe, Assemblywoman Rodriguez-Gregg, Assemblyman A.M.Bucco, Assemblywoman Caride, Assemblymen Caputo, Giblin, Assemblywomen Tucker, Watson, Jones, Assemblymen Burzichelli, Kennedy, Lagana, DeAngelo, Barclay, Singleton and Assemblywoman Jimenez
SYNOPSIS
Urges AG to take action to recover from Amtrak costs NJT will incur to address service disruptions resulting from Amtrak’s New York Pennsylvania Station repairs.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Assembly Resolution urging the Attorney General of the State of New Jersey to take action to recover from Amtrak the costs the New Jersey Transit Corporation will incur to address service disruptions resulting from Amtrak’s New York Pennsylvania Station repairs.
Whereas, The National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) owns, and is responsible for maintenance on, much of the railroad infrastructure in the Northeast Corridor, including the railroad infrastructure at New York Pennsylvania Station (Penn Station); and
Whereas, The New Jersey Transit Corporation (NJ Transit) operates rail passenger service on Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor, including at Penn Station, and has agreed to pay to Amtrak at least $83,000,000 per year beginning with federal fiscal year 2016 for capital investment in the Northeast Corridor assets and $90,240,000 in federal fiscal year 2016 in payments to cover Amtrak’s operating expenses; and
Whereas, On March 24, 2017, an Amtrak train derailed in Penn Station and on April 3, 2017, an NJ Transit train derailed in Penn Station causing significant delays, both of which were caused by defects on Amtrak’s tracks at Penn Station; and
Whereas, Speed restrictions resulting from the derailments resulted in only a 46.2 percent on-time performance for NJ Transit AM peak trains bound for Penn Station in May of 2017; and
Whereas, The derailments encouraged Amtrak to accelerate repair work at Penn Station by compressing repair work that was scheduled to take place over several years into a period of several weeks in July and August of 2017; and
Whereas, Amtrak has indicated that the accelerated repair work will require each railroad that operates in Penn Station, including NJ Transit, to implement schedule changes in July and August of 2017; and
Whereas, On May 23, 2017, Governor Christopher J. Christie announced that the NJ Transit Morris and Essex lines providing a one-seat ride to Midtown, Manhattan, will be diverted to the City of Hoboken during Amtrak’s summer repair work at Penn Station, and, as a result, passengers will be required to transfer to the Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) transit line or ferry service to finish their commute into Manhattan; and
Whereas, As a result of the this schedule change, NJ Transit will provide reduced fares to Essex and Morris line passengers, will cross honor fares with PATH and ferry service, and will provide additional bus service to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Bus Terminal; and
Whereas, During a joint committee meeting of the Senate Legislative Oversight Committee and Assembly Judiciary Committee on May 31, 2017, Executive Director of NJ Transit, Steven H. Santoro, and his staff explained that providing reduced fares and cross honoring fares during the summer repair work at Penn Station will cost NJ Transit approximately $15,000,000; and
Whereas, On April 5, 2017, Governor Christie wrote a letter to the Attorney General of the State of New Jersey (Attorney General), Christopher S. Porrino, to ask that Attorney General Porrino consider initiating appropriate legal action to recover payments made by NJ Transit to Amtrak under the Northeast Corridor Services Agreement; and
Whereas, Governor Christie also wrote a letter to Anthony R. Coscia, Chairman of the Board of Amtrak on the same date, explaining that he directed NJ Transit to cease making payments to Amtrak under the Northeast Corridor Services Agreement until certain conditions are met and to explain that he requested the Attorney General to consider initiating appropriate legal action to recover certain payments made to Amtrak; and
Whereas, NJ Transit should not be responsible for the costs it will incur to address service disruptions in July and August of 2017 resulting from Amtrak’s failure to maintain Penn Station’s infrastructure in a state-of-good-repair; and
Whereas, It is in the interests of the residents of the State of New Jersey that the Attorney General take action to recover from Amtrak the costs NJ Transit will incur to address service disruptions in July and August of 2017 resulting from Amtrak’s Penn Station repairs; now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. This House urges the Attorney General of the State of New Jersey to take action to recover from the National Railroad Passenger Corporation the costs the New Jersey Transit Corporation will incur to address service disruptions in July and August of 2017 resulting from the National Railroad Passenger Corporation’s New York Pennsylvania Station repairs.
2. Copies of this resolution,
as filed with the Secretary of State, shall be transmitted by the Clerk of the
General Assembly to the Attorney General of the State of New Jersey, the
President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Railroad Passenger
Corporation, the Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Transportation, the
Executive Director of the New Jersey Transit Corporation, and the Governor of
New Jersey.
STATEMENT
This resolution urges the Attorney General of the State of New Jersey to take action to recover from the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) the costs the New Jersey Transit Corporation will incur to address service disruptions in July and August of 2017 resulting from Amtrak’s New York Pennsylvania Station repairs.