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As part of its Public Transportation Emergency Relief Program, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is awarding $75 million to NJ Transit for the construction of a new rail maintenance of way (MOW) facility.

Announced Feb. 6, the grant to NJ Transit is part of $110 million that the FTA awarded to eight public transportation and state department of transportations. The funding will help agencies repair damaged equipment and facilities as well as recoup costs stemming from natural disasters that occurred in 2017 and 2020-2022.

During Hurricane Ida in 2021, NJ Transit’s current 70-year-old MOW facility in Wood-Ridge sustained extensive damage. The site continues to be vulnerable to flooding during damaging weather events. In New Jersey, the grant will facilitate its relocation to a new site in Clifton.

The Wood-Ridge facility houses operations such as maintenance of equipment used to keep rail infrastructure systemwide in a state of good repair; rebuilding of signal relays; construction of new signal bungalows; and crewing of staff that maintains NJ Transit’s Main, Bergen County and Pascack Valley lines.

In addition to the damage suffered and the continued flood risk, officials say the existing MOW facility’s lack of space and limited expansion potential demonstrates a need to move. The new MOW facility, which will be located on NJ Transit property on Kuller Road in Clifton, sits at a higher elevation.

Currently in the preliminary design phase, the site will be energy-efficient and state-of-the-art. NJ Transit officials say that will allow maintenance equipment to remain in a state of good repair.

Investing in infrastructure

“The new facility in Clifton enables us to better maintain and enhance our rail infrastructure, which translates to better, more reliable service for our customers,” said NJ Transit President and CEO Kevin Corbett. “We are grateful to the FTA for this generous $75 million grant as we continue to modernize maintenance operations to meet the future demands of New Jersey’s growing population and the transportation needs of our customers.”

“Americans cannot stop their lives because a disaster damages their transit systems,” said FTA Administrator Nuria Fernandez. “We know it is critical to fund recovery efforts for these systems, so they can keep taking American to work, school, doctors’ appointments, and other important destinations.”

“This $75 million grant for a new rail maintenance facility in Clifton is a much-needed investment in resilient infrastructure in a flood-prone area of our state,” said U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J. “This more sustainable, modern facility will help improve safety and reliability for commuters for years to come.”

“This $75 million federal grant is a massive step in the right direction and can help keep the trains running on schedule,” said U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr., D-9th District.

Ticket to ride

The announcement of the federal aid comes at a fraught time for NJ Transit. Facing a fiscal cliff, last month the agency announced a proposed 15% fare hike – its first since 2015 – effective July 1, 2024.

That news was met with backlash from around the Garden State. The agency cited ridership below pre-COVID levels, combined with continued investments in service/operations and increased costs – all while federal pandemic monies dry out – as the reasons why the rate increase is needed.

“Gov. [Phil] Murphy looks forward to the beginning of public hearings on NJ Transit’s fare adjustment proposal and supports the agency’s efforts to solicit robust public feedback in order to best understand the potential impacts of fare adjustments on New Jersey residents and commuters,” Bailey Lawrence, deputy press secretary for Murphy, told NJBIZ in a statement last month following the proposed rate hike. “The Murphy administration has kept its promise to hold the line on fare increases until staffing, capital funding, and reliability had markedly improved at NJ Transit, and we will continue to pursue additional avenues to respond to NJ Transit’s fiscal needs.”

The public hearings kick off on March 4.