NJ Transit strike ends as engineers approve new deal. Here's when train service will resume.
The NJ Transit strike is over after the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) approved a deal Sunday, but train service did not immediately resume Monday.
The engineers strike has halted trains across New Jersey for four days. The deal comes as relief to hundreds of thousands of riders who rely on the system that brings commuters to New York City and Philadelphia.
Full service is expected to resume Tuesday.
NJ Transit strike ends after weekend negotiations
"New Jersey's first rail strike in decades has officially come to an end," New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy announced at a news conference Sunday evening. "Starting Tuesday, May 20, NJ Transit will once again provide rail service to the more than 100,000 riders who depend on it every, single day."
"To offer the understatement of the year, this is a very good outcome, but it is also one that was far from inevitable," he added.
NJ Transit President Kris Kolluri and BLET General Chairman Tom Haas also spoke about the deal, but they did not get into the specifics of the agreement, which will be up for a union ratification vote in the coming days.
"The deal, as the governor correctly said, is fair and fiscally responsible," Kolluri said. "The deal itself reflects a series of concessions that came together by way of a work rule that will eventually end up paying for this fair wage that the unions have asked for."
"It was definitely a feeling of success that we were able to come to terms on something that I think we both can accept," Haas said.
On Saturday, Kolluri said the agency wanted a fair deal that wouldn't break the bank, but noted discussions with the union were constructive. At the time, he said he believed the sides were about 95% of the way to a deal.
Haas, speaking with CBS News New York from the picket line that day, said that the sides had been 95% of the way for roughly two years, but some final details still needed to be worked out.
NJ Transit train service will resume Tuesday
NJ Transit said trains will not be running Monday, even with the strike now over. Service will follow the strike contingency plan until fully restarting on Tuesday.
The agency said it needs about 24 hours to preposition equipment and conduct safety checks on hundreds of trains and miles of rail lines that have not been in use since last Thursday.
"We will never compromise the safety of our riders. For us, it is better that we do it right and do it methodically than to rush and try to meet some artificial deadline, and get it wrong. And we will not," Kolluri said. "The one favor that our riders could do for us one more time, is if you could work from home, please do that tomorrow so we can move essential employees through the system and for their place of work, for one day, and Tuesday morning we'll be back in business."
The contingency plan includes bus service from four designated park-and-ride lots in Secaucus, Hamilton, Woodbridge Center Mall and PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel. Amtrak, PATH trains and the ferry are other options.
Some riders do not think NJ Transit's backup plan is enough.
"There's other means for us to get back and forth, and they're just not making it possible for us. They're leaving us stranded," said Fuquan Jackson, a rider at Newark Penn Station.
"The [PATH] train was extremely crowded, so I just didn't feel safe," Donna Davis, of Jersey City, said.
NJ Transit rail tickets will still be cross-honored Monday on NJ Transit bus and light rail lines. They will not be honored by Amtrak, PATH or ferries.
Why NJ Transit engineers went on strike
BLET, the union representing about 460 engineers, argued neighboring transit agencies pay more and the cost of living has gone up in New Jersey. NJ Transit had said the requested raises would blow up the agency's budget and result in higher costs for riders.
Engineers walked off the job at 12:01 a.m. Friday after negotiations were unsuccessful. The strike fully shut down NJ Transit rail service, along with Metro-North's west of Hudson service.
The strike created a chaotic commute Friday morning as more than 100,000 people who ride the rails daily had to find alternate routes, leading to crowding on buses, PATH trains and even ferries.
NJ Transit came up with its contingency plan while asking commuters to work from home.
The last NJ Transit strike was back in 1983 and it lasted about three weeks. Most recently, there was a potential strike in 2016, but it was averted just a day before it was scheduled to begin.
