NJ Transit continues work on PTC – Updated 8.14.20

Written by David C. Lester, Editor-in-Chief
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NJ Transit

Ed. Note: After speaking with NJ Transit yesterday, we learned that the first version of this story contained a couple of errors that we have now corrected. We apologize for the errors. DCL

As we reported yesterday, the latest Federal Railroad Administration report on PTC implementation progress is mostly positive. The report said that 98.8 percent of the rail mileage requiring PTC is either operational with the new technology or is in the revenue service demonstration (RSD) phase, and this mileage is expected to be completely ready by the deadline of December 31, 2020.

One notable exception to this positive progress report, though, is the FRA’s concern that two commuter lines may not be able to meet the deadline – NJ Transit and New Mexico Rail Runner Express. For NJ Transit, FRA officials are concerned that only about a third of route miles have been tested, and there has been no interoperability testing with tenant railroads.

The progress report shows that of the 375 route miles on NJ Transit that need to be complete with PTC, only 100 are in RSD or some form of testing. In order to conduct testing, 22 trains of the 690 that NJ Transit operates daily have been canceled. The agency’s ability to do this was aided by the pandemic, which has resulted in NJ Transit’s ridership being down 80 percent compared to pre-pandemic levels. NJ Transit adds that they are running 97 percent of their train service for 20 percent of their ridership.

More information is available online.

Sources: nj.com and NJ Transit.

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