NEW JERSEY (WABC) — Amtrak and NJ Transit trains are operating on or close to schedule into and out of Penn Station New York on Saturday.
Due to damaged Amtrak overhead wire issues at the old Portal Bridge, Amtrak and NJ Transit riders experienced delays and cancellations almost the entire day on Friday.
John Del Giorno reports from NewsCopter 7.
NJ Transit President and CEO Kris Kolluri spoke with Eyewitness News about the optics of officials celebrating the completion of work on the new Portal Bridge on Thursday, only to face delays and cancellations the next morning.
“No one was spiking the football yesterday because the bridge is not supposed to open until Monday morning, let’s be crystal clear about that,” he said. “The fact that the bridge was open ahead of schedule was a special moment.”
He said it was important to note that, “Amtrak discovered delays not on the new bridge, but on the old bridge, there was a bent catenary pole that Amtrak is repairing right now.”
Kolluri said the first passenger train ran over the new bridge just before 6 a.m. Friday morning. He said Friday morning’s problems were not NJ Transit’s fault.
“First of all, it’s an Amtrak problem. I appreciate what you are saying. No one is making excuses. Amtrak is fixing the problem because it’s their corridor, and NJ Transit happens to run their trains on it,” he said.
As for what he had to say to customers dealing with another nightmare commute, he said: “Nothing is more important to me than that they have a safe and efficient ride.”
The new portal bridge officially opens for service on Monday, but it was being used on Friday to help get the commute back on track.
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