Subject: Chris Christie blames Amtrak for NJ Transit delays - Conor Skelding - POLITICO
From: "Eric Schwerin" <[email-masked]>
To: "Hunter Biden" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 25 Jul 2015 00:37:34 -0400

Chris Christie blames Amtrak for NJ Transit delays - Conor Skelding -
POLITICO

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/chris-christie-amtrak-transit-delays-120609.html

Chris Christie blames Amtrak for NJ Transit delays
 [image: WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 19: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie speaks
during the]

Christie asked acting New Jersey attorney general John Jay Hoffman to
'review the matter.' | Getty

The Governor calls on Washington to fund infrastructure.

By Conor Skelding

7/24/15 6:15 PM EDT

Amtrak alone is responsible for massive delays on NJ Transit trains in and
out of Penn Station this week, Governor Chris Christie said on Friday.

“NJ Transit commuters were victimized by nearly an entire week of extreme
delays and cancellations for one reason only: Amtrak’s indifference to New
Jersey commuters and its abject neglect of the infrastructure that New
Jersey and our entire region relies upon," Christie said in a statement
released by his office.

Story Continued Below

The governor was campaigning for president in Iowa on Friday.

Amtrak operates two cross-Hudson rail tunnels which NJ Transit also uses.
The tunnels, a century old and operating at near-capacity, suffered severe
flood damage during Hurricane Sandy. In 2014, Amtrak C.E.O. Joseph Boardman
said the tunnels will have to be shut down within 20 years if they are not
replaced. Federal transportation secretary Anthony Foxx said the situation
is "almost criminal," criticizing the leadership of both New York and New
Jersey.
Power failures in the aging tunnels led to numerous delays of more than an
hour in and out of Penn Station this week.

In his statement, Christie said, "We have tried again and again to work
cooperatively with Amtrak to resolve these issues, but in the face of this
repeated and unacceptable failure, I am calling on the Obama Administration
and Congress to step up to their responsibility to the people of New Jersey
and to the largest and most important regional infrastructure system in the
nation."

At the beginning of Christie's first term, he killed a project that would
have doubled the number of cross-Hudson rail tunnels. The $8.7 billion
project, called Access to the Region's Core, was to have been funded with
state and federal money.

Christie's predecessor, Jon Corzine, had broken ground on it in 2009. In
2010 Christie made the unilateral decision to shut it down, saying that it
would have cost New Jersey too much. He spent allocated dollars on
improving state roads.

In a taped radio interview to be aired on Saturday on WABC, he said that he
would make sure the new tunnel was built if he is elected president.

John Wisniewski, a Democrat and chair of the Assembly's transportation
committee, said in a statement that "the governor has taken hypocrisy to a
new level with his criticism of Amtrak, given his abject indifference to
New Jersey's transportation needs ... His cancellation of the A.R.C. tunnel
program has left New Jersey's trans-Hudson commuters with no choice but to
endure Amtrak's delays."

Christie's fellow Republicans backed the governor without explicitly naming
him. In a joint press release, State Senator Tom Kean, Assemblyman Jon
Bramnick, and Assemblywoman Nancy Munoz accused Amtrak of "failing to keep
up their part of the bargain" and requested a meeting with Amtrak officials.

On Friday, Christie asked acting New Jersey attorney general John Jay
Hoffman to "review the matter" and Senators Bob Menendez and Cory Booker to
"join me in holding Amtrak accountable."

Booker's press secretary, Silvia Alvarez, declined to pile onto Amtrak.
"Instead of casting blame, we should be working together to secure the
significant investments that are needed," she said in an email to Capital.
She blamed "years-long" neglect of infrastructure, including "the
century-old tunnels that are still carrying passengers across the Hudson
River four years after their replacement should have been well underway."

A representative for Hoffman, Paul Loriquet, confirmed that Christie asked
the attorney general's office to review Amtrak's service failures, but did
not comment specifically. A representative for Menendez declined to comment.

NJ Transit spokeswoman Nancy Snyder referred Capital to two letters.

In one, NJ Transit vice president and general manager Robert Lavell wrote
to D.J. Stadtler, Amtrak's C.O.O., requesting a meeting within 10 days.

In the other, New Jersey transportation commissioner Jamie Fox requested a
meeting with chairman Anthony Coscia.

Kimberly Woods, a spokeswoman for Amtrak, said that the rail line "regrets
and apologizes for the inconvenience caused by delays on the Northeast
Corridor this week." She said that Amtrak is "actively sharing information
with our partners" at NJ Transit. The problems, she said, "demonstrate the
urgent need for a funding solution so we can build and renew the
infrastructure needed to keep this region and the economy moving."
 Authors:
 View Comments

Eric D. Schwerin
[email-masked]

Sent from my iPhon