After service canceled Friday, NJ Transit train service resumes with some delays

NJ Transit train service appeared to resume almost back to normal in time for Father's Day and the Juneteenth long weekend Saturday after the agency was forced to cancel evening service after locomotive engineers called out in droves Friday.

By 8:30 a.m., two trains were canceled due to "engineer availability," on the Northeast Corridor and the other on the North Jersey Coast Line, which also delayed a different train. Two scheduled trains on the latter line were also canceled because of "equipment availability" Saturday morning.

"NJ TRANSIT expects locomotive engineers to report for their work assignments as scheduled on Saturday, June 18th, and we anticipate resuming service on a regular weekend schedule for the start of the service day," wrote NJ Transit spokesman Jim Smith in an early morning email.

"A few scattered residual service impacts are possible, so please visit njtransit.com for the most up-to-date service information before heading to your station."

Commuters were left scrambling much of Friday as train cancellations ballooned throughout the day, sparking chaos for the afternoon and evening commutes. Some attempted to take buses, ride-shares, PATH trains or have someone pick them up from a station. By 6:30 p.m., the agency announced it was canceling service and put out alerts for the last trains running that evening.

NJ Transit officials called out the locomotive engineers that didn't work for taking part in an "illegal job action" and threatened disciplinary action against those employees and legal action against the union.

The call-outs were apparently sparked by union protest about not receiving holiday pay for the Juneteenth holiday, celebrated by New Jersey on Friday. The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen is the only rail union of the 15 that NJ Transit bargains with that did not sign the new collective bargaining agreement, which would have made Juneteenth a paid holiday.

The union contract expired Dec. 31, 2019.

Colleen Wilson covers the Port Authority and NJ Transit for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to her work covering the region’s transportation systems and how they affect your commute, please subscribe or activate your digital account today. 

Email: cwilson2@gannettnj.com 

Twitter: @colleenallreds 

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ Transit service resumes with delays after Friday cancellations