PALMYRA, NJ — Burlington County residents asked New Jersey Transit executives to make various improvements to the public transportation system’s River LINE service during a town hall-style meeting organized by State Senator Troy Singleton and held in Palmyra on Tuesday night.
The residents’ asks included making improvements to River LINE’s on-time rate, installing fencing around more of the train system’s tracks, enhancing safety features in pedestrian areas around the train stations and upgrading train cars to allow wheeled vehicles on the train system’s cars without jeopardizing passengers’ safety and passengers' ability to get off the train.
Ian of Bordentown asked for assurances that the organization's app will contain accurate information. “It listed the time to get from Bordentown to Riverton as five minutes,” Ian said as one example of his concern.
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Charles, a resident of Riverton, had a concern regarding the gates that alert people that River LINE trains are coming are out of sync in some areas.
“Gates come down when there are no trains, and then gates do not come down when there are trains,” Charles said, drawing applause that seemed to support his remarks.
Other residents’ questions and concerns residents brought up during the town hall meeting did not appear to be immediately addressed by NJ Transit executives, such as reducing train speeds and changing the warning sound the River LINE trains make as they approach and pass through municipalities since some individuals have grown accustomed to the current warning sound. Other residents' suggestions included reviewing the gates at crossing’s opening and closing functions and improving the app’s functionality.
NJ Transit CEO Kevin Corbett seemed to acknowledge before these and other residents spoke at the meeting that he was aware of problems with River LINE.
“Alstom, who is responsible for the operations and maintenance of River LINE… has not met our expectations and we know it certainly has not met yours,” Corbett said.
A representative from Alstom was at the town hall meeting but did not speak.
Michael Kilcoyne, NJ Transit’s senior vice president of surface transit and general manager of bus operations, said before residents were allowed to ask questions that the delays in service frequently stemmed from mechanical issues spurred by the extremely hot temperatures this past summer.
“The lead time to (fix the issue) is 39 weeks for each one,” Kilcoyne said. “More than half of the (River LINE) fleet has the fix and we expect the remainder to be complete by next summer.” Kilcoyne added these fixes should improve the train system’s on-time rate.
Kilcoyne also said that about 15 new maintenance employees are being hired and about $19 million in additional capital funding was recently secured to try and prevent similar mechanical issues in the future.
In response to other residents’ concerns, such as stopping those who smoke and play loud music or use the trains or the stations as their homes, Corbett encouraged riders to call or email NJ Transit customer service when they see such activities.
Regarding safety in and around stations, Corbett and Jim Keane, NJ Transit’s chief safety officer, said the public transportation system is in the process of installing fencing around more of the train system’s property and placing signs with warnings written in Spanish and English around more of the train system’s property.
State Senator Troy Singleton, who organized and hosted the meeting, said the answers to these and residents’ other questions and comments, so long as the residents provided their contact information, will be answered after the meeting.
Corbett said he could not comment on a deadly crash involving a 15-year-old boy and a River LINE train in Palmyra this past August 8 as well as a deadly collision between a train and a tree near Roebling this past October 14, citing the ongoing investigations into each of those incidents.
Corbett added that NJ Transit employees’ “hearts go out” to the families impacted by those incidents, and asked town hall attendees to “keep them in your thoughts and prayers.”
Singleton told TAPinto Bordentown that the town hall meeting was more than just lip service.
“Rest assured, accountability rests every June when that (state) budget comes before us,” Singleton said. “We want to make sure that what is said here today goes from just concepts and talking points to concrete action.”