Mazzeo and Armato Statement on Prolonged Closure of Atlantic City Rail Line

(TRENTON) – In response to the continued closure of the Atlantic City Rail Line by NJ TRANSIT impacting thousands of commuters and daily riders, Assemblymen Vincent Mazzeo and John Armato released the following statement urging NJ TRANSIT to announce when the rail line will reopen:

“Since September, commuters who depend on the Atlantic City Rail Line to get to work, school or home have needed to seek out other often more inconvenient options to get where they need to go,” said Mazzeo (D-Atlantic). “We know that NJ TRANSIT had to install federally mandated positive train control mechanisms, which we hope will make our transportation system safer and more effective. However, it is still our belief that a full shutdown of the line wasn’t at all necessary, and could have been avoided with better planning from NJ TRANSIT. And with the PTC installation now complete as of December, it was their promise that the Atlantic City line would be open by now.”

“We stand with Atlantic County commuters in demanding answers, which is why Assemblyman Mazzeo and I sent a letter to NJ TRANSIT on Jan. 2 requesting an official reopening date be announced. A week later, we still haven’t received a formal response,” said Assemblyman Armato (D-Atlantic). “Now, some officials and press outlets are conveying the reopening may be as late as March. That’s unacceptable for our commuters, who’ve endured crowded daily bus rides and lengthy commutes for months on end. We call on NJ TRANSIT to not only announce a formal reopening date, but hold a true public information meeting in Atlantic County to make sure new operating schedule is properly distributed to riders. Our commuters deserve nothing less than to be informed and assured when their daily lives will return to normal.”