If you show up to Penn Station planning to board a NJ Transit train Saturday, you’ll be out of luck.
Commuters arrived at the station to find signs saying rail service was still suspended.
“I just found out that they are on strike so the service is suspended,” said Yun Kim.
It started at midnight Friday, when NJ Transit’s engineers union went on strike after the two sides were unable to reach an agreement.
NJ Transit officials said they’ll be meeting with the union throughout the weekend.
“All with this goal of getting to a deal so we can get them back to work, get our customers the reliable service they need,” said NJ Transit CEO Kris Kolluri. “We’re 95% of the way there on all the terms and conditions. This issue of wages is an important one and a complex one.”
The union said its members have gone six years without a raise.
“The BLET is willing to sit down and get this thing settled. But we expect a fair contract. And our members have made that clear, that we expect a fair contract,” said Mark Wallace, the national president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen.
Without access to trains, commuters have been crowding onto PATH trains, buses, ferries or taking cabs — anything to make their way to and from New Jersey.
Kim and his relatives visiting from Korea will now have to take Amtrak and an Uber just to get back to New Jersey.
“I do understand their situation, but unfortunately for our individual travels it’s bad luck,” said Kim.
The disruption comes during a busy concert season at MetLife Stadium, and many concertgoers are scrambling to figure out how to get to shows without the train.