Don't Blame Amtrak

WNYC News | Jul 27, 2015

New Jersey Transit's Twitter feed said trains were still experiencing delays related to power problems on Monday morning

NJ Transit executives and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie blamed Amtrak, which owns and operates the tunnel under the Hudson River. Amtrak, in turn, blamed Congress for failing to invest in the Northeast Corridor.

Martin Robins, director emeritus of Rutgers University's Voorhees Transportation Center, helped create New Jersey Transit. He said it's not fair to blame Amtrak.

"Amtrak and New Jersey Transit are in this together, and they should be working together as hard as they can to upgrade a very old and fragile infrastructure," he said.

In this interview, WNYC's Julianne Welby talks with Robins about NJ Transit's woes, and the current plan for repairs to the system.

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