With the NJ Transit Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen potentially going on strike as early as May 16, Maplewood Township officials are looking to make alternative plans for the town’s many train commuters.
“I would suggest that we have an OEM [Office of Emergency Management] planning meeting to look at alternatives,” said Maplewood Township Committee member Vic DeLuca at the May 6 Township Committee meeting.
“When we had trains out in the past, we used our jitneys to bring people to the Irvington bus depot in Irvington Center so they could either catch the 107 bus to go to New York, or they could take the bus into Newark Penn Station and jump on the PATH to get to either Wall Street or 33rd Street,” added DeLuca. “We ought to put a plan in place and do a survey of our commuters to see if anyone’s interested.”
Mayor Nancy Adams added, “Also find out if New Jersey Transit is providing any alternatives.”
Deputy Mayor Malia Herman said, “I did see where [NJT] is going to be moving people from Secaucus, Hamilton, Woodbridge, and the PNC Art Center in Holmdel, so they’re making contingency plans as well.”
NJ Transit has created a special link on its homepage for “Potential Rail Service Disruption“, with this description: “NJ TRANSIT has announced a rail stoppage plan in the event of a strike by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (BLET) as early as Friday, May 16th at 12:01am. To learn more about the plan click here.”
