Governor Phil Murphy says NJ Transit service will continue to improve, thanks in part to a new class of train engineers.
“Slowly but surely we are getting back on our feet,” Murphy said.
A total of 12 trainees completed 24 weeks of classroom instruction and also passed all their testing, including a final exam that consisted of nearly 800 questions. Murphy has made hiring more engineers a priority after service disruptions last summer because of a shortage of workers.
NJ Transit needs at least 390 engineers to accommodate full service, but had just 335 last year.Even with the new class of engineers, Murphy admits they’re still short of the number they need.
“It’s going to be bad, but not as bad as it’s been the past couple of summers,” Murphy said.
Three more engineer classes are expected to graduate before the end of the year, increasing the number of engineers by 40 in 2019.
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