Lackawanna Coalition

advocating for rail passengers since 1979

Month: May 2025

  • News from the Customer Advocate

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    We have had the honor of having NJT Customer Advocate Franck Beaumin join our meetings as a guest to observe and take notes about issues we discuss.  This month, we had a specific question: How does cross-honoring get started?  On one recent occasion, a Coalition member, informed by PATH that cross-honoring was in effect, asked…

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  • Service West of Dover

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    In light of the Interstate 80 closures,  NJ Transit reduced fares for riders west of Dover. We, of course, appreciate this action to ease people’s pain, described in detail elsewhere in this issue. However, if service is to increase, things must change; certain facts on infrastructure and operations must be faced:  There is no weekend…

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  • Lackawanna Coalition at New Jersey Budget Hearings

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    The New Jersey Legislature provides 4 sessions for public input on the state budget. For Fiscal Year 2026, the Lackawanna Coalition presented their statement to the legislature at 2 of those sessions: the Assembly Budget Hearing at the State House in Trenton on Tuesday, 27 March, and the Senate Budget Hearing at NJIT in Newark…

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  • Report from the Chair – May 2025

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    Communications Director

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    The biggest change for the Lackawanna Coalition this month is the temporary relocation of our meetings to the Summit Public Library while Millburn Town Hall undergoes extensive renovation.  Elsewhere in this issue, member David Peter Alan details the train schedule for those attending in person.  Zoom attendees will not see any change.  Adjusting to a…

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  • SEPTA Cuts Loom

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    SEPTA had announced budget cuts if nothing was reached before January 2026.  It appears that there will be budget cuts and eliminations on 5 regional rail lines (Trenton, Paoli Thorndale, Cynwyd, Chestnut Hill West, and Wilmington Newark lines) that run on Amtrak tracks and 50 bus routes, as well as ending service at 9:00 p.m.,…

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  • NJ Transit Reports Increasing Ridership amid Half-Fare Offer, Due to Sinkholes on I-80

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    David Peter Alan

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    The main transportation topic in western Morris County these days is I-80’s closure on account of a number of sinkholes that have developed along the route. NJ Transit is offering half-fare round trips for riders on Morris & Essex and Montclair-Boonton Line trains west of Dover to encourage motorists to take the train, and the…

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  • Getting to the Coalition’s New Meeting Location

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    David Peter Alan

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    For the past 46 years, which comprises its entire history, the Lackawanna Coalition has met in the wood-paneled conference room known as the Committee Room at Millburn Town Hall, excepting only those months during the height of the covid-19 pandemic when we met by telephone using MaestroConference.  Once again, the building is closed, this time…

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  • STRIKE! We’re Out (in the Cold)

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    Sally Jane Gellert

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    Statement on the NJ Transit Strike UPDATE! We are glad to hear of the tentative agreement, though many of our members will be working their way to tonight’s meeting at the Summit Free Public Library without a train—#70 bus it is! We’re glad to see service restored tomorrow, May 20. Comments from May 16: This…

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  • Budget Committees, March 2025

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    We attended the Tuesday, March 25th hearing in Trenton (State House) and the Wednesday, March 26th hearing in Newark (NJIT Student Center). We presented the same statement at both, differing only in the committee name on the written copy.

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