All Aboard Act would refund some NJ Transit passengers for delayed, canceled trains

U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., announced he will be introducing a new bill that would grant NJ Transit passengers the right to be reimbursed for train cancelations and delays.

In an news conference this week, Gottheimer said he will be introducing the All Aboard Act, legislation that besides including a Rail Passenger Bill of Rights, will call on Amtrak to shape up, as the national railroad company owns and operates the train tracks NJ Transit uses.

In June, a month before NJ Transit installed a 15% rate hike, 657 NJ Transit trains were canceled. A total of 415 of those cancellations were credited to Amtrak, according to the legislator, whose Fifth Congressional District includes parts of Bergen, Passaic and Sussex counties along the northern edge of the state.

NJ Transit reports that if it weren't for Amtrak, 92.3% of its trains would run on time.

Whit this new legislation, whenever Amtrak is to blame for an NJ Transit delay or cancelations, "Amtrak will foot the bill for refunds," the legislator said.

Just like with the recently adopted rights for airline passengers, under the Rail Passenger Bill of Rights, passengers will be entitled to a prompt, automatic full refund for any canceled train or any delay longer than three hours.

In his announcement, Gottheimer didn't mention if passengers would be compensated for train cancelations not related to Amtrak issues, or delays shorter than three hours.

"We need to reduce these delays and give commuters in our state some peace of mind, so they stay in Jersey. Trust me, we’re far better than Long Island," Gottheimer said in his annoucement.

"I won’t pretend that every delay or cancellation is preventable, but the data tells us that a significant portion of them are," he said.

According to Gottheimer, Amtrak doesn't replace infrastructure on time, extending its use well beyond its expected lifespan. For example, if a piece of infrastructure if meant to last until 2024, Amtrak would plan to keep it in place a year or two after that.

The All Aboard Act would give Amtrak six months to produce a report on new maintenance strategies to avoid operational issues.

It will also ensure that Amtrak has the funding it needs to implement those new strategies, Gottheimer said.

Currently NJ Transit pays Amtrak for the right to use the rail infrastructure. Annually NJ Transit pays more than $100 million to Amtrak for the maintenance of tracks and overhead wires, the legislator said.