Lackawanna Coalition

advocating for rail passengers since 1979

Tag: From the Railgram

  • On the Rails with the Coalition

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    Sally Jane Gellert

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    On Friday, May 20, folks from the Lackawanna Coalition teamed up with some folks from the Senior Citizens and Disabled Residents Transportation Advisory Committee (SCDRTAC) on an inspection trip on the Morris & Essex and Montclair-Boonton lines. We left from Newark Broad Street on the 2:16 P.M. Montclair-Boonton train and stopped in Dover for dinner…

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  • NJ Transit Tackles Accessibility—Not a Success

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    Sally Jane Gellert

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    Accessibility—something important to all of us. Some, temporarily able-bodied, need not concern themselves with it on a daily basis, able to simply take for granted that their chosen mode of transportation will not present barriers to free travel. Any agency providing public service, however, must take into account the various barriers that people might find…

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  • Report from the Chair: July/August 2022

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    Sally Jane Gellert

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    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…

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  • Report from the Chair

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    Sally Jane Gellert

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    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…

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  • Live! In Person! The April NJT Board Meeting!

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    Webweaver

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    We are pleased to note that the April board meeting will be held live on Wednesday morning, April 13th, at 9 a.m., at NJ Transit headquarters in Newark—for the first time in more than 2 years. Since March 2020, all meetings have been by phone—and without even live-streamed presentations of the A number of people…

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  • April Brings a Full NJ Transit Board:
    James Adams Cancelled

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    Sally Jane Gellert

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    When in-person board meetings resume in April, there will be a full 13 members present (or at least 10: 3 individuals are nominated, not directly appointed, and need Senate confirmation). Missing from the dais will be current board member James Adams, who was not reappointed. The reason given is the end of his term (Dec.…

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  • A Missed Opportunity

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    Sally Jane Gellert

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    For the past few years, we have watched the so-called NJ Transit “reform” legislation wind its way through the Trenton legislature. Our concerns about NJ Transit’s priorities, practices, and policies are ongoing, and we did not see that the legislation includes the sort of changes needed. True, the newest version has the purported “customer advocate”…

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  • Report from the Chair, Mar./Apr. 2022

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    Sally Jane Gellert

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    We were pleased to see Board Member James Adams again take seriously his responsibility to oversee the NJ Transit budget, and vote against the typically opaque presentation. From charts that mislead (e.g., showing claimed “savings” and showing only tips of the bars, which hides the actual magnitude), to larger-than-previous transfers from capital to operating costs,…

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  • Who in Congress Represents You Now?

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    Webweaver

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    After the 10-year census, states’ populations are calculated and Congressional representatives are redistributed across the United States. Accordingly, every 10 years, a new map for New Jersey’s Congressional districts is drawn. The 2022-2031 Congressional redistricting map was adopted on December 22, 2021. Many New Jersey residents will find that their Congressional Representative has changed. Go…

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  • AmeriStar Rail: More Service on the NEC, Rail Plans for LaGuardia

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    Webweaver

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    As we learned at our November, meeting, there could be a lot more trains on Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor (NEC) with AmeriStar Rail’s operating plan (www.ameristarrail.com/impact). Chief Operating Officer Scott R. Spencer presented that plan to us, saying that the NEC is currently underutilized. The restructured plan for intercity trains would not affect NJ Transit (including…

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