NEWARK CITY SUBWAY EXTENDS LATE NIGHT SERVICE, IMPROVES EFFICIENCY

Extra 2 hours of service to Grove Street begins January 8

December 29, 2004
NJT-04-084

NEWARK, NJ ¿ NJ TRANSIT will provide four additional late-night trips on the Newark City Subway (NCS) each day, beginning Saturday, January 8.

Under the revised schedule, the last light rail car will arrive at Grove Street Station in Bloomfield at 12:10 a.m., compared to 10:01 p.m. on the current schedule.

The service improvement was made possible when the Federal Railroad Administration approved NJ TRANSIT¿s request to modify the waiver governing freight service on a 1,100-foot section of shared track between Branch Brook Park and Grove Street stations. Before the new operating conditions were approved, NJ TRANSIT was prohibited from operating light rail service to Silver Lake and Grove Street stations between 11 p.m. and 1 a.m. daily, when Norfolk Southern freight trains had exclusive use of the shared track.

¿In addition to working hard, we need to work smart,¿ said NJ TRANSIT Executive Director George D. Warrington. ¿We¿ve taken our success with shared track on the River LINE and turned what we¿ve learned into more seats and more service for our customers on the Newark City Subway.¿

The new agreement also allows NJ TRANSIT to make more efficient use of equipment and reduce labor costs by eliminating the need to store equipment overnight at Newark Penn Station.

In exchange for NJ TRANSIT¿s longer operating hours, Norfolk Southern will be permitted to operate on the shared track any time during off-peak hours. NJ TRANSIT expects minimal impact to service, since most freight trains can be easily accommodated between scheduled off-peak light rail trains.

NJ TRANSIT is the nation's largest statewide public transportation system providing more than 752,600 daily trips on 240 bus routes, three light rail lines and 11 commuter rail lines. It is the third largest transit system in the country with 163 rail stations, 52 light rail stations and more than 17,000 bus stops linking major points in New Jersey, New York and Philadelphia.