Reach for the nearest tissue: Train has a crew availability issue

By adamg on Sun, 09/12/2021 - 12:46pm

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Wow

By StillFromDorchester on Sun, 09/12/2021 - 12:52pm.

That's different.

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Did they board passengers

By Notfromboston on Sun, 09/12/2021 - 1:56pm.

Did they board passengers first?

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New Jersey

By Charles Bahne on Sun, 09/12/2021 - 3:01pm.

This was a huge issue a couple of years ago (pre-pandemic) with the commuter rail system in New Jersey. A large percentage of trips had to be cancelled due to not having enough staff available, for several months at least.

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Yes.

By Rob on Sun, 09/12/2021 - 6:13pm.

Yes.
It was at least partly an attrition issue - particularly engineers. Metro-North and possibly one or two other railroads were paying more for the same job grade. NJT had had some undersized or canceled training classes for a couple of years.
I forget if this was a causal-related problem, or just overlapping/aggravated by... A couple of years ago they also had the "summer of hell" and a sequel - construction & crash repairs at NYPenn impacted NJT platforms, and they had equipment & sometimes lines out of service as they staggered to the finish line on Positive Train Control. There were a LOT of schedule disruptions, and possibly some pushback from the union(s) on sick time and replacement shifts.