Reported by Benjamin J. Hulac for NJ Spotlight News
For those looking for relief from New Jersey’s hellish train commute into and out of New York City lately, don’t expect it anytime soon from what has been a prime culprit: Amtrak.
A backlog of repairs and decades of slim federal investment in American railroads have left the country’s — and New Jersey’s — busiest transit hub, New York Penn Station in Manhattan, vulnerable to delays and cancellations.
It’s not necessarily because of a lack of funds, either. The federal government provided about $66 billion in funding for railroad projects nationwide through a 2021 infrastructure law, and billions have been committed for the Gateway project, which will include a new two-track tunnel beneath the Hudson River. Yet improving regional rail systems like NJ Transit takes time.
“It’s not as simple as ‘Now there’s money, so why isn’t it fixed?’” said Greg Regan, president of the Transportation Trades Department labor union, in an interview with NJ Spotlight News. “There is progress being made, you just can’t snap your fingers.”
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