Passengers have to descend (or climb) 26 steps to reach the tracks at the Perth Amboy train station.

By: Ron Miskoff

PERTH AMBOY – People have talked about the reconstruction of the Perth Amboy Rail Station for longer than most people can remember, maybe as far back as the 1960s.

Although the project is technically underway, not a single shovel has been put into the ground. Officials say it is still in the design stage as the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is reviewing the blueprints.

But the project is officially at least seven years behind schedule, and all of the funding — more than $47 million — has not been earmarked yet. From a passenger point of view, nothing is happening.

The original plans call for the addition of four new elevators and a platform similar in height to other NJ Transit stations in New Jersey. That would enable travelers to step on and off trains instead of what they have to do now: climb or descend several steps to get on and off a train. Besides that, passengers have to descend 26 steps to reach the concrete sidewalk where they can climb onto the train. When they return from their trip, they have to climb those same 26 steps to reach the parking lot or street level.

Perspective shot shows the lack of a high-level platform at the Perth Amboy train station. Photos by Ron Miskoff

Thus it is difficult or impossible for the elderly and the handicapped to reach the train.

Under the original schedule posted by NJ Transit, the project should have been completed in June 2016.

But according to a document called “Perth Amboy Station – ADA Improvements,” the schedule for the completion of the reconstruction has been pushed back to October 2023. That’s more than seven years later than previously announced. The new schedule was quietly noted last week in a document not seen before. The Amboy Guardian obtained the document through a request under the N.J. Open Public Records Act.

According to the document, the project currently is listed as “0% complete.”

That does not mean that nothing has been done on the project. Both NJ Transit and FTA spokespersons have said that the design phase is 30 percent complete and engineering plans are awaiting FTA approval before the next phase can commence. But that phase of the project was scheduled to be done by January 2012, according to the document.

Mayor Wilda Diaz announced in Dec. 2016, “NJ Transit has committed the necessary funding totaling nearly $47 million to renovate and improve the Perth Amboy Station.” That means that the project was already three years behind schedule when NJ Transit approved it. It is listed as having been budgeted in May 2013.

View of Perth Amboy Train Station

The mayor is exasperated.

Asked for a statement concerning the delay, Noelia Colon, Mayor Diaz’ spokesperson, said she asked NJ Transit for an explanation. This is what NJ Transit told her:

“The improvements to the Perth Amboy train station await the review of the Federal Transit Administration (FTA).  Until that review completes, the project remains at 30-percent design.  We look forward to completing that review and advancing this project for the benefit of our customers in Perth Amboy.”

In fact, there is some question about whether the money to pay for the project has been made available yet through federal funding. Mayor Diaz, meanwhile, said she has been waiting “the last eight to 10 years” for the station to be improved and made compliant with the Americans With Disabilities Act.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law in 1990 and went into effect around 1993. The ADA specifies certain milestones that need to be completed in public buildings. The train station is literally years behind schedule under ADA.

As requirements for compliance to the ADA are nearly 30 years old, Diaz blamed NJ Transit for being “extremely slow in submitting the paperwork to the FTA.”

In a telephone interview Diaz said that New Jersey’s federal representatives have been helpful in moving the project along. She mentioned Sen. Cory Booker and Rep. Frank Pallone but especially noted the work that Sen. Robert Menendez has done to move the project along.

“Booker, Pallone and especially Menendez have followed up,” she said. “They have followed up. Their aides had conversations with representatives from the FTA… we need this train station to be ADA compliant so people can use a station that meets federal standards.”

She said, “Menendez didn’t forget about us.”

Part of a document released by NJ Transit under the Open Public Record Act. It indicates, column by column, that the Perth Amboy rail station is literally years behind schedule. For the complete document, click here.

Still, a spokesman for the FTA said the foot-dragging, if there was any, came from the New Jersey side, not the federal government.

A spokesman for the FTA — the federal agency which is empowered with awarding the funding — said NJ Transit is lax in its part of the job.

In a statement labeled as “FTA Final Background Response,” Steven Taubenkibel, a public affairs specialist for FTA, said on Wednesday, March 20, in an email that NJ Transit has still not submitted a grant request to FTA for the Perth Amboy station project.

“FTA will consider a grant application once it is received,” Taubenkibel said in an email to the Amboy Guardian. “All environmental reviews take various times to complete; however, making appropriate ADA improvements to an historic station requires a critical review and ensuring the character of the historic station is maintained while making it accessible to commuters.”

Taubenkibel went on to write, “FTA anticipates completing its review of NEPA [National Environmental Policy Act], ADA and the Historic Preservation Act for the Perth Amboy station later this year.” 

Section 4(f) of the National Historic Preservation Act prohibits the US Department of Transportation from approving transportation projects requiring use of protected resources, including significant historic sites (such as Perth Amboy Station) unless the federal agency can demonstrate that there is no prudent or feasible alternative and the project sponsors use all possible planning to avoid, minimize, and mitigate harm to the historic resource.

Mayor Diaz said she would like to see construction begin by the end of 2019 or the beginning of 2020. She said she hurt her back three years ago at the Perth Amboy station and had to get off her train in Woodbridge. In fact, several people who live or work in Perth Amboy were interviewed for this article, and many of them complained of physical problems dealing with the station. Many have shifted their use of rail travel to stations in Metuchen, Woodbridge or South Amboy.

Also, because the Perth Amboy station lacks elevators and a high-level platform to board trains, the number of people who use the station is probably lower than it might be if those aspects were available.

“All of the money is not in-house yet,” said Laurie McCabe, a chief of staff for Sen. Joe Vitale and Assembly members Yvonne Lopez and Craig Coughlin. “We were supposed to have shovels in the ground in January.”

Vitale, Lopez and Coughlin all represent the 19th district — where Perth Amboy is located — although none of them were made available to comment for this article. In addition, Rep. Pallone did not respond to requests for comment.

But McCabe said she was investigating whether the entire structure of funding for the train station might be tied too close to other projects, thus holding up the train station. One project that she said seemed to be blocking funding for the rail station is the Portal Bridge. It is a rail bridge near Secaucus Junction that carries rail traffic into and out of New York City. 

The bridge, which spans the Hackensack River in Kearny and Secaucus, has been in the news lately because of its cantankerous two-track moveable swing-span that has held up rail traffic. Complicating the connection between the Perth Amboy rail station funding and the Portal Bridge has been the fact that the Portal Bridge, built in 1910, is owned and operated by Amtrak as part of the Northeast Corridor and is also used by NJ Transit.

In 2015, the Portal Bridge was considered the busiest train span in the Western Hemisphere, carrying 150,000 to 200,000 passengers per day. If a passenger takes a train to New York City from Perth Amboy or South Amboy, he or she will travel over the Portal Bridge on the way. It has received almost as much publicity at the Gateway Project, the proposal to increase and repair the train tunnels connecting New Jersey and New York City.

McCabe said she was hoping to get the Perth Amboy train station uncoupled from the Portal Bridge funding but because federal funding was involved, she was not sure that could be accomplished. The Portal Bridge tab is much more expensive than the Perth Amboy Rail Station. The latest estimated cost for replacing the bridge is $1.5 billion, which dwarfs the cost of upgrading the Perth Amboy Rail Station.

As a result, she said all of the funding for the rail station has not been authorized by Congress. Despite state funding for the Portal Bridge, the Donald Trump White House is withholding money for the project. As a result, the withheld funds are affecting the Perth Amboy rail station, although the station is non-controversial.

McCabe said she was aiming this week for a letter to be sent to the Department of Transportation and signed by Coughlin, Vitale, and Lopez, along with Mayor Diaz, to demand that the train station, which has already received promises for a major part of the $47 million needed for the project, move ahead even as federal and state officials dicker over the Portal Bridge. A spokesperson for the two New Jersey senators and Pallone also said they were working on drafting a separate letter to get the train station project moving.