Amtrak getting slammed again by New York media over NJT delay

[Thirdrail7]

The core problem faced by NJ commuters at present is as much poor and preferential dispatching by Amtrak as failures of infrastructure. Even on the best of days NJT somehow manages tog et slammed. In the same Penn Station LIRR is able to operate their half of the station with a plan so much so that one can depend on the same train generally using the same platform every day. But not on the Amtrak side, for reasons unknown.

In effect Amtrak treats non-Amtrak trains at least as badly as Amtrak is treated by freight railroads on their tracks. So I am afraid there is enough blame to go around and Amtrak is no saint. Actually there is considerable political support to strip Amtrak of its infrastructure on the NEC and give it to a separate jointly funded organization, and leave Amtrak as just a train operator competing on an open railroad based on slots priced by quality - i.e.high speed slots priced considerably higher than low speed slots etc.

Isn't this pretty much the reason that LIRR fought for and eventually won the right to jointly handle the dispatching on their side of Penn Station? If that is working out, perhaps it can serve as a model for a similar setup with NJT?

LIRR actually purchased the slots in Penn Station when they were put up for sale at one time. So they genuinely control that part of Penn Station. There is nothing that Amtrak can do to change that, hence their inclusion in controlling Penn Station. That is also why they will be able to hold on to all that even when they move part of their ops to Grand Central.

NJT OTOH does not own anything at Penn Station. It leases whatever it uses there. Hence the LIRR model cannot be applied directly at least to NJT.

To expand on this, while LIRR purchased the slots a long time ago, they entered the dispatching when they chipped to pay for PSCC. At the time, Amtrak was struggling to eliminate the towers which often bogged down operations in the NYT district. The sheer number of movements through "F", "JO," and "C" overwhelmed the block operators. Since NJT hadn't completely taken over the west end, "A" wasn't impacted to the same degree. Still, something needed to be done and Amtrak was in its usual "not enough money to take action" state. So Wrong Island Railroad ponied up half of the funds to revamp the entire NYT District and build the PSCC dispatching center. As part of this "joint venture," they get to operate it for 6 months out of the year.

In addition a lot of feedback was given on the total accounting mess that Amtrak has created somehow in connection with the PRIIA Section 209 pricing and at least providing the mechanism to revisit and fix it, which appears in the proposed bill.

There is a core problem in that the bill *again* attempts to force Amtrak to allocate shared, national costs to individual business lines. I consider that madness.

----

FWIW, the other great advantage LIRR has over NJT is that there are four tubes under the East River. LIRR uses two of them pretty much exclusively, and intrudes into the "Amtrak tubes" only occasionally. NJT is trying to shoehorn its entire run into the same tubes as Amtrak.

To expand on what Neroden is stating, LIRR and Amtrak service level haven't really fluctuated to any high degree since PSCC was built. In fact, Amtrak switching movements in the terminal have actually decreased. On the other hand, NJT operations has probably added somewhere between 250 and 310 movements in the same period. As such, they are indeed "shoehorning" themselves into the existing profiles of LIRR and Amtrak.

Hey, there is plenty of room in Hoboken!

That being said, I also wonder if the increased presence of the ALP-45s and ACS-64s are tipping the scales in terms of power consumption. These engines do draw a lot of power. I remember a similar problem when the Acela sets, the HHP-8s and the Remans started dominating the scene. They created such a draw in WAS that you'd have to drop the pantographs on trains sitting in the station for trains to make it past MP 133 on the main line. Eventually, they had to build another substation to handle it.

 

[jis]

When does the additional frequency converter in Sunnyside that is planned come on line. I guess it couldn't do it sooner than right about now! Then there is the new subsstation in Hamilton and the new frequency converters in Metuchen. I recall a discussion on this board where people were suggesting that those were not necessary and the money is better spent elsewhere. Well guess what?

On the matter of NJT, NJDOT was foolish enough (penny wise pound foolish that is) to not purchase slots back when they were available. Also they should have taken the opportunity to contribute and thus buy into PSCC. The attitude in NJ has unfortunately been that of trying to get something for nothing at the critical decision points. It is unfortunate that those decision points did not happen during Jeff Warsh or Shirley DiLibero's tenure at the helm of NJT.

NJT has always seemed to have scads of capital money, so much so as to own more rolling stock than they can possibly run given their relative poverty on the operating budget side. A symptom of that has been a slew of premature retirements of equipment and such.

As for Midtown Direct, that plan was known to both NJT and Amtrak for a long long time. it did not just happen suddenly. And for all practical purposes it completely rejuvinated the Morris and Essex service to Dover, more than doubling ridership and more. So in terms of regional planning for transportation it was a good move. Unfortunately it was not as well coordinated apparently as it should have been with infrastructure upgrades on the NY end of things. However, in some sense the Midtown Direct slots are not additional slots. They were always planned for and absent Midtown Directs they would be used by NEC, NJCL and possibly other trains anyway. We have to face the fact that Penn Station is a prime location now where people want to go to, and Hoboken really is not. Hoboken could become more popular if the sum of NJT and PATH fares were at least euqal to NJT fares to Penn. but unfortunately they are higher. There is an opportunity to do some social engineering using fare jiggling and such to move some traffic to Hoboken, but really it is going to be tough to move all to hoboken ever again IMHO.

The entire story of NEC catenary management can be described in brief I think as "a day late and a dollar short" over decades now. As I said earlier, the chicken are now coming home to roost.

BTW, in some cases it is the same NJT nonsense trying to blame Amtrak for problems caused by NJT equipment breakdown in the tunnel.

http://www.northjersey.com/news/christie-blasts-amtrak-for-causing-delays-for-nj-transit-commuters-1.1380604

I think it is stupid of NJT and Christie to tout the $100 million since as stated by Amtrak and is common knowledge that that is way less than what it actually costs to provide for NJT service on the NEC. In fact it is very likely that they will be lucky if they donlt see an at least 50% if not more increase in their annual dues for using the NEC. Mr. blowhard really needs to learn when to keep his trap shut for his own good.

 

[railiner]

The core problem faced by NJ commuters at present is as much poor and preferential dispatching by Amtrak as failures of infrastructure. Even on the best of days NJT somehow manages tog et slammed. In the same Penn Station LIRR is able to operate their half of the station with a plan so much so that one can depend on the same train generally using the same platform every day. But not on the Amtrak side, for reasons unknown.

In effect Amtrak treats non-Amtrak trains at least as badly as Amtrak is treated by freight railroads on their tracks. So I am afraid there is enough blame to go around and Amtrak is no saint. Actually there is considerable political support to strip Amtrak of its infrastructure on the NEC and give it to a separate jointly funded organization, and leave Amtrak as just a train operator competing on an open railroad based on slots priced by quality - i.e.high speed slots priced considerably higher than low speed slots etc.

Isn't this pretty much the reason that LIRR fought for and eventually won the right to jointly handle the dispatching on their side of Penn Station? If that is working out, perhaps it can serve as a model for a similar setup with NJT?

LIRR actually purchased the slots in Penn Station when they were put up for sale at one time. So they genuinely control that part of Penn Station. There is nothing that Amtrak can do to change that, hence their inclusion in controlling Penn Station. That is also why they will be able to hold on to all that even when they move part of their ops to Grand Central.

NJT OTOH does not own anything at Penn Station. It leases whatever it uses there. Hence the LIRR model cannot be applied directly at least to NJT.

To expand on this, while LIRR purchased the slots a long time ago, they entered the dispatching when they chipped to pay for PSCC. At the time, Amtrak was struggling to eliminate the towers which often bogged down operations in the NYT district. The sheer number of movements through "F", "JO," and "C" overwhelmed the block operators. Since NJT hadn't completely taken over the west end, "A" wasn't impacted to the same degree. Still, something needed to be done and Amtrak was in its usual "not enough money to take action" state. So Wrong Island Railroad ponied up half of the funds to revamp the entire NYT District and build the PSCC dispatching center. As part of this "joint venture," they get to operate it for 6 months out of the year.

In addition a lot of feedback was given on the total accounting mess that Amtrak has created somehow in connection with the PRIIA Section 209 pricing and at least providing the mechanism to revisit and fix it, which appears in the proposed bill.

There is a core problem in that the bill *again* attempts to force Amtrak to allocate shared, national costs to individual business lines. I consider that madness.

----

FWIW, the other great advantage LIRR has over NJT is that there are four tubes under the East River. LIRR uses two of them pretty much exclusively, and intrudes into the "Amtrak tubes" only occasionally. NJT is trying to shoehorn its entire run into the same tubes as Amtrak.

To expand on what Neroden is stating, LIRR and Amtrak service level haven't really fluctuated to any high degree since PSCC was built. In fact, Amtrak switching movements in the terminal have actually decreased. On the other hand, NJT operations has probably added somewhere between 250 and 310 movements in the same period. As such, they are indeed "shoehorning" themselves into the existing profiles of LIRR and Amtrak.

Hey, there is plenty of room in Hoboken!

That being said, I also wonder if the increased presence of the ALP-45s and ACS-64s are tipping the scales in terms of power consumption. These engines do draw a lot of power. I remember a similar problem when the Acela sets, the HHP-8s and the Remans started dominating the scene. They created such a draw in WAS that you'd have to drop the pantographs on trains sitting in the station for trains to make it past MP 133 on the main line. Eventually, they had to build another substation to handle it.

Thanks for "expanding" on those explanations....it all clears things up for me.

As for the plenty of room in Hoboken....maybe Amtrak should do a trial run of a Regional into there, to see if anyone rides it....

 

[neroden]

Hoboken suffers from still having all-low-level platforms. ?!?! I'm not sure how much they can be changed, either; they're historic! I mean, it's nice to have some, but...

 

[jis]

Well, they do have a very serious ADA problem at Hoboken, and they cannot do any improvements in the platform area anymore without biting the high platform bullet. Yes, it can be done, but it will cost a pretty penny, one that NJT clearly does not currently have and NJ legislature does not care enough about ADA to provide.

The problem of transferring some trains to Hoboken termination is the layout of Dock interlocking, which will create nightmare of congestion for getting westbound trains out of Hoboken onto westbound NEC. The westbound reverse Kearny connection and the 4th track between Dock and Rea are dearly needed before contemplating any major shift of through service from NEC to Hoboken. Thos two together could easily consume half a billion dollars.

 

[jis]

A very apt Editorial in the Star Ledger: Christie's delusional attack on Amtrak

Gov. Chris Christie's attack on Amtrak last week is the final proof that he has lost his mind. Either that, or he thinks the rest of us have lost ours.

The delays that tortured thousands of Jersey commuters last week were caused by electrical problems in the century-old tunnels beneath the Hudson, and other woes. Amtrak has been begging Congress for money to maintain its ancient infrastructure, and to replace it where necessary. Congress has refused that, thanks to the small-government crowd that Christie is part of.

Has he been banging his fist on the table to move his fellow Republicans on this issue, as he did after Sandy? If so, we missed it. Instead he plays a political game by waiting for the inevitable breakdown, and then lashing out at Amtrak.

The Start Ledger gets it absolutely right IMHO.

 

[Andrew]

It would be a real shame if Congress votes for a multi-year transportation bill--without attaching the Amtrak reauthorization to it!

 

[Andrew]

A very apt Editorial in the Star Ledger: Christie's delusional attack on Amtrak

Gov. Chris Christie's attack on Amtrak last week is the final proof that he has lost his mind. Either that, or he thinks the rest of us have lost ours.

The delays that tortured thousands of Jersey commuters last week were caused by electrical problems in the century-old tunnels beneath the Hudson, and other woes. Amtrak has been begging Congress for money to maintain its ancient infrastructure, and to replace it where necessary. Congress has refused that, thanks to the small-government crowd that Christie is part of.

Has he been banging his fist on the table to move his fellow Republicans on this issue, as he did after Sandy? If so, we missed it. Instead he plays a political game by waiting for the inevitable breakdown, and then lashing out at Amtrak.

The Start Ledger gets it absolutely right IMHO.

All of the more reason to believe that the next governor of New Jersey will NOT BE A REPUBLICAN. I can not possibly picture New Jersey citizens voting for a Republican candidate for New Jersey governor in 2017 after Bridge-gate, 9 credit downgrades, Christie's other baggage, and the Christie Administration billing the taxpayers for his Bridgegate legal fees all under Christie's watch.

Also, it would be a real shame if Congress votes for a multi-year transportation bill--without attaching the Amtrak reauthorization to it!

 

[jis]

Andrew, your posts about the transportation bill would be more credible if you were to give any indication at all that you have bothered to read the darned bill, or at least a summary of it, which is available at multiple places quoted in this thread.

Just in case you missed it, there is currently no transportation bill under consideration that does not include an Amtrak authorization. So why would you think that there is any likelihood that such a bill sans Amtrak authorization has any likelihood of being adopted?

 

[Andrew]

Andrew, your posts about the transportation bill would be more credible if you were to give any indication at all that you have bothered to read the darned bill, or at least a summary of it, which is available at multiple places quoted in this thread.

Just in case you missed it, there is currently no transportation bill under consideration that does not include an Amtrak authorization. So why would you think that there is any likelihood that such a bill sans Amtrak authorization has any likelihood of being adopted?

1.

2. So I suppose that some Congressional Republicans do care about Amtrak? Also, if Congress does not agree on a multi-year transportation bill before the 2016 presidential election, all that does is help Trump or Hillary Clinton become our next president.

 

[MrFSS]

Let's get this back on topic rather than political. Hard to do, I know, but we may have to let it cool off if not.

 

[Texan Eagle]

The problem of transferring some trains to Hoboken termination is the layout of Dock interlocking, which will create nightmare of congestion for getting westbound trains out of Hoboken onto westbound NEC. The westbound reverse Kearny connection and the 4th track between Dock and Rea are dearly needed before contemplating any major shift of through service from NEC to Hoboken. Thos two together could easily consume half a billion dollars.

Hey Jis, can you explain this with a diagram, if one is available somewhere? For the benefit of someone like me who is very interested in the entire maze and chaos of rail service in NY-NJ area but doesn't know any of the names of interlockings etc.

 

[PRR 60]

I'm not as quick to let Amtrak off the hook with this.

Every organization has resource limitations and competing needs that exceed those resources. That fact of life is dealt with by prioritization. The projects being considered for funding are scored by various methodologies to determine which get the nod, which get deferred, and which get dropped outright. Projects are funded up to the available resources, and the rest wait.

If, as implied, Amtrak neglected critical electric traction maintenance and renewal in the North River tunnels, then that also implies that some person or persons within Amtrak determined that spending their available resources on that work was a lower priority than every other project that was funded by the company. In other words, someone looked at the catenary, insulators, hangers, cables, breakers and all the other associated hardware and electrical equipment needs in the North River Tunnels (Amtrak single most critical piece of railroad), and felt that spending money to fix those problems was less important than new cars, new locomotives, and (dare I say), spending $2 million rebuilding a prototype Viewliner as an executive boondoggle, er, I mean inspection car. Amtrak decided where to spend the money they had (including their claimed "above the rail" profit from the NEC), and they spent it elsewhere.

Now Amtrak claims that, if they only could get more funding, they could fix things like the tunnel ET mess. Given the importance of that system to operations through that critical section of railroad, shouldn't the question be why they decided to spend the money they had available on other things? How could that other work, work that was funded, be more important than maintaining essential electrical infrastructure through the North River tubes? If the power supply failures in the North River Tubes were the result of deferred maintenance or renewal work, that has to at least in part be blamed on Amtrak's faulty prioritization of capital and maintenance needs.

 

[jis]

The problem of transferring some trains to Hoboken termination is the layout of Dock interlocking, which will create nightmare of congestion for getting westbound trains out of Hoboken onto westbound NEC. The westbound reverse Kearny connection and the 4th track between Dock and Rea are dearly needed before contemplating any major shift of through service from NEC to Hoboken. Thos two together could easily consume half a billion dollars.

Hey Jis, can you explain this with a diagram, if one is available somewhere? For the benefit of someone like me who is very interested in the entire maze and chaos of rail service in NY-NJ area but doesn't know any of the names of interlockings etc.

Dock is the interlocking which includes the lift bridge just east of Newark Penn Station. Rea is the next interlocking right near the west end of the Hudson Yard just at the east end of the curve that the PATH Harrison Station is on. Currently there are only three tracks in that spot, and the ROW is too narrow for 4 main line NEC tracks plus two PATH tracks there. The next interlocking to the east is Hudson at the east end of Hudson Yard where the single track connection to M&E veers off to the right (as one travels towards New York i.e. eastbound), and two tracks of the Amtrak main line (The High Line) crosses over the M&E ROW on the Sawtooth Bridge.

What is missing is the westbound connection from M&E to the NEC. The reason it is missing is because (a) it would require a flyover across PATH after it ducks under the NEC traveling westwards from Hoboken and (b) it would then occupy the nonexistent space between the westbound PATH track and the NEC on the Harrison curve to join up with track 4 at Dock. (NEC tracks are numbered 1, 2, 3, 4 south to north. 1 &2 are nominally eastbound, and 3 & 4 are westbound). To accommodate it the PATH track would have to be moved onto a trestle off the NEC embankment and place this track at the vacated place on the Harrison Curve.

Absent that westbound connection, westbound trains from Hoboken would have to come up the eastbound connection track and then run across the eastbound New York tracks, blocking through traffic while they cross over, in order to make it to the west bound NEC tracks, and also disrupt westbound traffic since there is only one track westbound leading into Newark around the Harrison curve. That is why there a huge reluctance to run much through service from Hoboken onto the NEC specially during rush hours

I know a track diagram would help immensely, but I can't find one off hand on line, and I don;t have the time to draw one right now. So that description above will have to suffice for now.

 

[jis]

Now Amtrak claims that, if they only could get more funding, they could fix things like the tunnel ET mess. Given the importance of that system to operations through that critical section of railroad, shouldn't the question be why they decided to spend the money they had available on other things? How could that other work, work that was funded, be more important than maintaining essential electrical infrastructure through the North River tubes? If the power supply failures in the North River Tubes were the result of deferred maintenance or renewal work, that has to at least in part be blamed on Amtrak's faulty prioritization of capital and maintenance needs.

Your seem to be indeed somewhat quick to specify blame without enough detail in hand IMHO. Yes, it could be partly Amtrak's fault. But we cannot know for sure unless we know what they prioritized above the work in question here. Perhaps the work that was prioritized indeed did require higher priority. Do you know for sure what the other work was? Without that detail in hand it seems like a bit of Monday morning quarterbacking based on insufficient information and hidden assumptions to me.

 

[west point]

If Amtrak did not give priority to the north river tunnels knowing that a "Sandy" type hurricane was in the future then they would have been remiss. --- But there was so slight a probability of any Sandy occurring that all my weathermen say they would have never thought. They still feel another one in the next 10 - 20 years is not big but maintain that now all the NY harbor area needs to prepare just in case.eao

 

[Texan Eagle]

Dock is the interlocking which includes the lift bridge just east of Newark Penn Station. Rea is the next interlocking right near the west end of the Hudson Yard just at the east end of the curve that the PATH Harrison Station is on. Currently there are only three tracks in that spot, and the ROW is too narrow for 4 main line NEC tracks plus two PATH tracks there. The next interlocking to the east is Hudson at the east end of Hudson Yard where the single track connection to M&E veers off to the right (as one travels towards New York i.e. eastbound), and two tracks of the Amtrak main line (The High Line) crosses over the M&E ROW on the Sawtooth Bridge.


What is missing is the westbound connection from M&E to the NEC. The reason it is missing is because (a) it would require a flyover across PATH after it ducks under the NEC traveling westwards from Hoboken and (b) it would then occupy the nonexistent space between the westbound PATH track and the NEC on the Harrison curve to join up with track 4 at Dock. (NEC tracks are numbered 1, 2, 3, 4 south to north. 1 &2 are nominally eastbound, and 3 & 4 are westbound). To accommodate it the PATH track would have to be moved onto a trestle off the NEC embankment and place this track at the vacated place on the Harrison Curve.

Absent that westbound connection, westbound trains from Hoboken would have to come up the eastbound connection track and then run across the eastbound New York tracks, blocking through traffic while they cross over, in order to make it to the west bound NEC tracks, and also disrupt westbound traffic since there is only one track westbound leading into Newark around the Harrison curve. That is why there a huge reluctance to run much through service from Hoboken onto the NEC specially during rush hours

I know a track diagram would help immensely, but I can't find one off hand on line, and I don;t have the time to draw one right now. So that description above will have to suffice for now.

Thanks for the detailed explanation, I think I understood what is going on by looking at http://www.openrailwaymap.org/ for that area which has all the tracks neatly labeled in different colors (unfortunately it does not allow direct link to specific locations, so you will have to browse your way to Newark)

What would happen if, say, they decide to add an at-grade crossover from the M&E line to the NEC line cutting across one PATH track that sits between them in the stretch between Sawtooth Bridge and the yard? Yes, it would cause some PATH trains to get held up if a westbound train from M&E is trying to get onto westbound NEC but it will at least not block all NEC eastbound traffic.

 

[PRR 60]

Now Amtrak claims that, if they only could get more funding, they could fix things like the tunnel ET mess. Given the importance of that system to operations through that critical section of railroad, shouldn't the question be why they decided to spend the money they had available on other things? How could that other work, work that was funded, be more important than maintaining essential electrical infrastructure through the North River tubes? If the power supply failures in the North River Tubes were the result of deferred maintenance or renewal work, that has to at least in part be blamed on Amtrak's faulty prioritization of capital and maintenance needs.

Your seem to be indeed somewhat quick to specify blame without enough detail in hand IMHO. Yes, it could be partly Amtrak's fault. But we cannot know for sure unless we know what they prioritized above the work in question here. Perhaps the work that was prioritized indeed did require higher priority. Do you know for sure what the other work was? Without that detail in hand it seems like a bit of Monday morning quarterbacking based on insufficient information and hidden assumptions to me.

You posted a link to an NJ.com editorial that stated, "The delays that tortured thousands of Jersey commuters last week were caused by electrical problems in the century-old tunnels beneath the Hudson, and other woes. Amtrak has been begging Congress for money to maintain its ancient infrastructure, and to replace it where necessary. Congress has refused that, thanks to the small-government crowd that Christie is part of." You stated that the editorial got it "absolutely right." The editorial blames the failure on old equipment that Amtrak has not been able to replace without additional funding. I was simply pointing out that, if those failures were due to old and defective equipment, the blame can be at least partly placed on Amtrak.

 

[railiner]

Monday was a relatively uneventful day on the NEC....so much so, that even that fact made the local news....

I suppose all this media attention is a good thing, if it finally results in much needed infrastructure improvement....

 

[jis]

Now Amtrak claims that, if they only could get more funding, they could fix things like the tunnel ET mess. Given the importance of that system to operations through that critical section of railroad, shouldn't the question be why they decided to spend the money they had available on other things? How could that other work, work that was funded, be more important than maintaining essential electrical infrastructure through the North River tubes? If the power supply failures in the North River Tubes were the result of deferred maintenance or renewal work, that has to at least in part be blamed on Amtrak's faulty prioritization of capital and maintenance needs.

Your seem to be indeed somewhat quick to specify blame without enough detail in hand IMHO. Yes, it could be partly Amtrak's fault. But we cannot know for sure unless we know what they prioritized above the work in question here. Perhaps the work that was prioritized indeed did require higher priority. Do you know for sure what the other work was? Without that detail in hand it seems like a bit of Monday morning quarterbacking based on insufficient information and hidden assumptions to me.

You posted a link to an NJ.com editorial that stated, "The delays that tortured thousands of Jersey commuters last week were caused by electrical problems in the century-old tunnels beneath the Hudson, and other woes. Amtrak has been begging Congress for money to maintain its ancient infrastructure, and to replace it where necessary. Congress has refused that, thanks to the small-government crowd that Christie is part of." You stated that the editorial got it "absolutely right." The editorial blames the failure on old equipment that Amtrak has not been able to replace without additional funding. I was simply pointing out that, if those failures were due to old and defective equipment, the blame can be at least partly placed on Amtrak.

And they would have been fixed if Congress provided money. So are you just making an obvious statement that some equipment did not get fixed because there was no money? I thought you were implying that Amtrak deliberately chose to single out the pieces of equipment that failed (actually a CB tripped due to overload), which would make it their fault. But what if all they did was prioritize expenditures to fix benches in tunnels so that they would not crumble onto the tracks considering that to be a more severe risk? Part of the core issue is being addressed with the HSR funding with addition of capacity at the Sunnyside substation, which suggests to me that Amtrak actually does address issues when money is found to do so. So yeah, I don't understand why the article isn't absolutely right. But if you wish to disagree that is fine by me too.

Interestingly, a major part of the problem at least on two days was NJTransit trains failing in tunnels, which of course NJT announces as "broken down trains" as opposed to "broken down Amtrak trains". The Governor huffing and puffing loudly after that I find at least humorous.

 

[west point]

Circuit breakers do fail/. They trip at lower and lower currents as they age and also for number of trips. Only so many trips before completely fail.; 1930 C/B ? wonder how often has tripped over years. ? Again if there is a CB trip pans down then restore power/ then raise pans and proceed under minimum load probably one train at a time.i

 

[jis]

Here is a nice op-ed describing all of the Christie shenanigans as it applies to the tunnels, and that too from someone who agreed with the cancellation of the ARC project due to its technical faults:

http://www.northjersey.com/opinion/chris-christie-has-a-case-of-tunnel-vision-1.1381412?page=all

 

[jis]

What would happen if, say, they decide to add an at-grade crossover from the M&E line to the NEC line cutting across one PATH track that sits between them in the stretch between Sawtooth Bridge and the yard? Yes, it would cause some PATH trains to get held up if a westbound train from M&E is trying to get onto westbound NEC but it will at least not block all NEC eastbound traffic.

There used to be one such. It was removed to isolate PATH from mainline railroads by cutting off all through track crossovers (I have actually traversed that on an excursion train when it existed) . There still are a few factory siding crossovers. But different rules apply to those.

It is safe to assume that such a crossover is not coming back.