Feds tour Amtrak, NJ Transit sites to assess service improvements

Amtrak, federal and New Jersey officials this week reviewed improvement activities to  infrastructure and fleet systems that have occurred following Northeast Corridor passenger-rail service disruptions in May and June.

Amtrak Executive Vice President of Service Delivery and Operations Gery Williams led tours of Amtrak’s substation in Morrisville, Pennsylvania, and on a catenary car in Trenton, New Jersey, with Federal Railroad Administrator Amit Bose, Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Regional Administrator Michael Culotta and New Jersey Transit officials.

The tours were followed by a visit to NJ Transit's maintenance yard in Morrisville. The tours aimed to build on ongoing work by Amtrak, NJ Transit and the FRA in Northeast states to address prior service issues and restore and improve service reliability.

The collaboration between Amtrak and NJ Transit is focused on both Amtrak infrastructure and NJ Transit equipment, including the pantograph system that connects to the catenary and draws power for the train, according to an Amtrak press release.

Over the past month, FRA safety personnel have been supporting Amtrak and NJ Transit and taking part in their focused inspections included in their joint plan to identify and address the root cause of service outages and disruptions, FRA officials said in a news release.

While in Trenton, Amtrak officials demonstrated how inspections are conducted with specific vehicles and tools to ensure catenary systems are maintained. Bose and Culotta observed NJ Transit equipment, including damaged pantographs under inspection at the Morrisville yard.