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NJ Transit to suspend service to Newark airport

NJTransit_MeredithWright
NJTransit_MeredithWright

Service to Newark Airport Rail Station along the Northeast Corridor will be suspended for 75 days starting May 1.

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The closure of the airport train station is related to maintenance work being done on the Newark Airport Monorail, which travels between the terminals and airport parking lots,according to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

In a written statement, the Port Authority wrote that the closure is needed to allow for repairs to several eroded sites along the monorail's tracks.

Instead, riders will be able to take NJ Transit buses to the airport from Newark Penn Station.

However, Jack May, vice president of the New Jersey Association of Railroad Passengers,said this is not the most convenient solution for passengers, because NJ Transit could run a bus service directly from the Newark Airport train station to the airport itself, rather than from Newark Penn Station.

Emergency access roads were constructed near and connected to the NJ Transit/Amtrak/Monorail Intermodal Station when the Monorail was built in 1996.

“I think it’s a very poor policy of theirs,” May said. “Suddenly they’ve turned the faucet off, and it’s not really a responsible thing to do because once you build up patronage, it takes a long time to get it back after it gets turned off.”

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Mays said that 3320 people board the NJ Transit at Newark Airport Rail Station on an average weekday.

University Director of Community and Regional Affairs Kristin Appelget advised students going to Newark Liberty International Airport via NJ Transit to keep the construction in mind while planning their route.

“What this all means for students who use the train to get from Princeton to the airport is that they’ll need to allow for some additional travel time,” Appelget said.

Students have expressed their concern with the changes, especially in light of the upcoming end of the semester when many students have plans to fly home from Newark Airport.

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“I’m a big NJ Transit customer, and I probably use it to get to Newark Airport around once a month,” Sebastian Marotta ’16 said. “So this’ll be a huge inconvenience if I had to take the shuttle from Newark Broad Street.”

Other students have sought alternative routes to get to the airport, such as the Princeton Shuttle to Newark Airport offered by Olympic Airporter.

“It’s a good thing I use the shuttle service from Baker Rink,” Alexandra Toth ’17 said, “It’s really simple and helps avoid all the trouble caused by these changes.”

Students like Kiana Amirahmadi ’16 said that they hope the changes are only temporary.

“If it’s just for 75 days, I think it’ll be fine,” Amirahmadi said. “But, if it extends further than that, I can see it becoming a major issue.”

Service to Newark Airport will resume in the middle of July.