Dinky train service suspended (again), then started again in the afternoon

Update: Dinky service resumed at 3:02 p.m.

The Dinky train is not operating on Monday, Aug. 26, due to “engineer availability,” according to NJ Transit. Substitute buses are being provided.

Commuters should also expect delays today and large crowds at Penn Station, Secaucus Junction and Newark Penn Station because of the the Video Music Awards. The ceremony is being held in Newark. There is a potential for gridlock conditions in the area.

10 Comments

  1. I’m not sure why engineer availability is in (scare?) quotes. To me that’s believable, since of course people take vacation on the last Monday of the summer, few new graduates of the 20-month engineer training program are yet working, and the Dinky train is one of the least unreasonable to change to buses when train engineers are scarce (at least while the Alexander Road bridge is open).

  2. Pave the route and make it a bus-way . . . i.e. no stop lights. One bus driver.

    Then allow some of the buses at the Princeton terminus to go thru the campus (Elm Drive), or via University Place to/from Palmer Square, etc.

    It’s too obvious a solution. Sorry.

  3. The Dinky ought to be extended not only to its former terminus, but to Nassau Street, adding a loop out to The Shopping Center, and from there, across to Bayard Lane and Witherspoon Street, with car-width euro-style trams. Had not GM bought up and ripped out all the trolleys in 1932, most of the parking meter and traffic debates would be moot. Come on, Princeton – lead by example!

  4. DINKY—Switch engine without tender, used around back shop and roundhouse, or any small locomotive. Also a four-wheel trolley car.
    According to wikipedia, it is the shortest scheduled commuter rail line in the United States.

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