Lackawanna Coalition

advocating for rail passengers since 1979

Tag: From the Chair

  • Report from the Chair, March/April 2023

    –

    Sally Jane Gellert

    –

    The biggest train-related story since our last issue of the Railgram has to be the Norfolk Southern derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. We note that the problem was compounded by a slow EPA response that allowed the corporation’s request to burn off toxic chemicals—possibly necessary to avoid an uncontrolled explosion, but done in such a…

    Read more

  • Report from the Chair

    –

    Sally Jane Gellert

    –

    Our Website update had the unexpected consequence of knocking our forum offline temporarily—we are getting that restored to its old spot on the original Website, as connecting it to the new site will take some creativity and technical magic (we do have someone working on the latter option; watch for updates as we figure out…

    Read more

  • Report from the Chair: Sept./Oct. 2022

    –

    Sally Jane Gellert

    –

    In addition to my role as Lackawanna Coalition chairperson, I am a member of SCDRTAC, the Senior Citizens and Disabled Residents Transportation Advisory Committee of NJ Transit, and I find more and more common concerns. At the last SCDRTAC meeting, member Sara Thompson gave a presentation on issues that affect riders with hearing limitations, and…

    Read more

  • Report from the Chair: July/August 2022

    –

    Sally Jane Gellert

    –

    It has been a hectic month, including a wildcat strike that disrupted service for Juneteenth/Father’s Day weekend, with almost 500 engineers calling out, some 300 trains cancelled, and thousands of passengers scrambling to make alternate plans. NJ Transit filed a request for an injunction (on Friday) but did little to help passengers caught up in…

    Read more

  • Report from the Chair

    –

    Sally Jane Gellert

    –

    For the first time in 2 years, the NJ Transit board met in person on April 13, 2022. Much was the same: security check-in, label, escort to the 9th floor—yet there were changes: speaker check-in was done online before the meeting, for both phone and in-person speakers; in person, there was not the usual 2…

    Read more

  • Report from the Chair, Jan./Feb. 2022

    –

    Sally Jane Gellert

    –

    The Lackawanna Coalition and the N.J. Rail Passengers’ Association have both argued that the proposed “Customer Advocate” position in the NJ Transit reform bill is erroneously and misleadingly named, and our position has itself caused some confusion. Take a look at the dictionary definition of the word advocate (from dictionary.com) Advocate, noun: a person who…

    Read more

  • Report from the Chair, Nov./Dec. 2021

    –

    Sally Jane Gellert

    –

    At the October NJ Transit board meeting, I commented on the difficulty of finding information on agenda items in order to make meaningful comments. In previous administrations, the final written agenda included a lot more detail on action items. As I looked over the packed agenda, there were items on which I had questions. I…

    Read more

  • Report from the Chair: Sept./Oct. 2021

    –

    Sally Jane Gellert

    –

    On August 23rd we once again met in person at Millburn Town Hall, where we had an informative presentation from Josh Crandall of Clever Commute. Josh, who had given us a presentation a few years ago, reminded us of the project’s start when a group of 6 friend started sharing updates in 2006, just helping…

    Read more

  • Report from the Chair—July/Aug. 2021

    –

    Sally Jane Gellert

    –

    Our June meeting was unique—a throwback to prepandemic times, as we met in person for the first time since our hybrid meting in December 2020, itself an anomaly in our string of phone meetings since March of that year. Millburn was gracious enough to allow us to have that December meeting to honor Chairperson Emeritus…

    Read more

Recent Posts

Categories

Archives

Tags

Amtrak ARC bicycles budget bus buses Chris Christie conference congestion pricing Delays electrification equipment fares From the Chair From the Railgram Gladstone Hoboken Jim Simpson Jim Weinstein Midtown Direct Montclair-Boonton Morris & Essex MTA Newark NJT board NJ Transit NJ Transit Board Northeast Corridor North Jersey Coast Line NY Penn Station off-peak Pascack Valley Line PATH Penn Station First Plan Raritan Valley RUN Safety SCDRTAC Secaucus Junction Super Bowl Superstorm Sandy transparency Transportation Trust Fund tunnels weather