NJ Transit riders are breathing a sigh of relief as the rail service has tentatively agreed to end a brief strike by engineers. However, the wait for regular train service is causing delays and frustrations for commuters.
On Monday afternoon, a long line stretched through the Port Authority bus terminal in Manhattan, as travelers rushed to catch shuttles to the Park and Ride lot across the Hudson.
“I told my boss I’d leave as soon as it started. Look at this line! It’s not even 2:30 PM, and there are already 100 people here,” remarked 26-year-old Bob P.
He added, “Just imagine what it’ll look like at 5 or 6 tonight. It’s going to be chaos!”
Terry Jones, 47, a youth worker, expressed his frustration at traffic staff during the evening rush as they were trying to manage impatient commuters. “Get me on the bus!” he shouted before heading to the escalator. “Stop talking to me! I’ll leave! Supervisor, just let me through!”
Jones typically has a 45-minute commute to the city from Carteret, but on Monday, he was running late.
“If I had to rate this from one to ten, it would definitely be a ten. I’m furious. This is ridiculous, especially for the people who have to endure all this!” he said.
When 21-year-old Ankit Kumar arrived at the Port Authority, he decided to head back to his office for another couple of hours rather than wait in the crowds. “I’m supposed to leave by 6 PM, but now I might not get home until 9 or 10 PM. I have to wake up at 6 AM again tomorrow,” he lamented, clearly annoyed.
Kumar, who usually spends three hours commuting, is now contemplating a move to New York City, and the recent strike has intensified his desire to relocate.
Ansel Walters, 49, thought his shuttle bus troubles were over after hearing about the agreement, but found himself facing a line that stretched longer than he anticipated. A commute that typically takes 35 minutes turned into a two-and-a-half-hour ordeal.
“I got frustrated enough to get off the bus because it was taking so long,” Walters said.
Sharon Adamo, 64, a property manager, was ready to enjoy a more comfortable ride this week. “People standing on buses? That’s just unacceptable. It’s uncomfortable and quite dangerous,” she noted, as her commute increased by an hour due to the disruptions.
The public transit authority in New Jersey has reached an agreement to raise engineers’ pay, as they haven’t seen a raise since 2019. The deal came after two days of intense negotiations, which saw about 450 locomotive engineers stop work shortly after midnight on Friday.
This was the first strike since 1983 for the rail system, leading to significant disruptions for many commuters in New Jersey.
“We’re happy to announce that NJ Transit and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen have reached a tentative agreement. This means New Jersey’s first rail strike in decades has officially ended,” said a union representative.
Initial remarks suggested that normal operations would resume on Monday night, but officials later clarified that trains wouldn’t be running until 12:01 AM on Tuesday.
The early train schedule for Tuesday is set to start around 4 AM.
Tom Krebs, 61, a doorman in Manhattan, shared his frustrations, saying, “I was stuck on Friday! The first bus didn’t show up at 5:05 AM that morning, and the one today was delayed too. It’s been a real mess.”
On a positive note, he mentioned, “They opened the bus lane around 5:30 AM, so we could get here without issues later on. But I’m relieved the situation has calmed down!”
Jeanne Lotte, 31, an executive assistant heading to Secaucus, was also pleased that the strike was over. “I’m sneaking in early, so don’t tell my boss. This morning was a nightmare getting into that parking lot,” she laughed. “The look on everyone’s faces was just something else.”
Additional reports contributed to this story.
