NJ Transit's Creaky, Empty Trains Stir Worry of Fare Increases
Commuters fear they’ll pay more as Governor Phil Murphy struggles to fix biggest US state railroad.
Trains at the New Jersey Transit Bay Head Rail Yard in Bay Head.
Photographer: Gabby Jones/BloombergNew Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, who inherited one of the most troubled US commuter railroads, set out to do the seemingly impossible: fix shoddy service without making fed-up riders pay more.
But now in his second term, the problems persist. A record number of New Jersey Transit breakdowns far exceed those of its two New York City-area peers, federal data show. At the same time, NJ Transit is dangling discounts — two-for-one holiday travel, 20% off multiple-ride passes — to coax more commuters aboard trains whose ridership is 55% to 75% of pre-pandemic levels, depending on the weekday.