Amtrak and NJ Transit (NJT) customers deserve a refund on their tickets if they face more of the hellish commutes they have this summer, says Garden State Congressman Josh Gottheimer.
Gottheimer, a Democrat from Bergen County, on Monday unveiled the “All Aboard Act,” which includes a “rail passenger bill of rights” entitling commuters on Amtrak and NJT to a full refund on their fares if their trains are “canceled or significantly changed by more than three hours,” similar to a proposal by the Biden administration for aggrieved airline passengers.
The proposal comes after a ghastly summer of service on the Northeast Corridor — the busiest passenger rail corridor in the United States, which in New Jersey is shared by Amtrak and NJT in and out of Penn Station — where commuters have faced repeated days of canceled and delayed trips owing to Amtrak’s ancient and unreliable electric infrastructure powering trains.
“To improve service, you need both carrots and sticks,” Gottheimer said at a press conference in Glen Rock, NJ on Monday. “We’ve already given carrots in the form of infrastructure investment. This new measure will compel Amtrak to prevent delays for commuters to the greatest extent possible.”
Gottheimer is laying particular blame for the mishaps on Amtrak, which he says is responsible for 415 of 657 canceled trains in June. Were it not for Amtrak issues, NJT says it would have 92.3% on-time performance but instead clocks in at a less-than-impressive 83.2%.
The rep is also calling on Amtrak to start investing $6 billion in funds in upgrading its outdated infrastructure, including old overhead catenary wires that droop above the trains instead of being constantly tensioned. The money was authorized in the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law but has not been spent, a spokesperson for Gottheimer said.
“We have the funding in place,” said Gottheimer. “Now, it’s time for Amtrak to use it.”
Reached for comment, an Amtrak spokesperson said most of the $6 billion had been “committed already to other vital projects and are a downpayment on the tens of billions needed from Congress.”
“Amtrak is working hard to improve the reliability of the Northeast Corridor after nearly five decades of chronic underfunding by both the federal government and our commuter partners,” said the spokesperson, Jason Abrams. “We and NJ TRANSIT, like, Congressman Gottheimer, want on-time service that meet customer expectations and we are working diligently, together, to identify root causes and make improvements to the many old assets we rely on every day to support roughly 450 daily trains in New Jersey.”
Updated with a statement from Amtrak
