With the New Jersey Transit rail system shut down on Friday, commuters in some parts of the state had another train option: Amtrak. But the cost for a ticket to the ride passenger rail line was significantly more than NJ Transit, frustrating commuters who said they could not afford the higher rates.
A one-way ticket on NJ Transit from Trenton to Penn Station in New York City is $19.25. At one point on Friday morning, the fare on Amtrak was as much as $118. Later in the morning, however, the Amtrak website displayed much lower rates, from $39 to $54, for a ticket from Trenton to New York City.
Amtrak officials did not immediately respond to questions on Friday morning about whether the rates were reduced because of the NJ Transit strike. But the lower prices were posted too late for some riders who paid higher fares earlier in the morning.
“Amtrak is too expensive,” said Glenn McDonell, 61, a shipyard worker who had planned to take a $14 NJ Transit train from Trenton to Newark to visit his son, compared with $94 on Amtrak. “My son’s going to have to come pick me up.”
Amtrak was an option for just some NJ Transit rail commuters who live close enough to stations the passenger rail line services. In addition to Trenton, Amtrak stops in Princeton Junction, New Brunswick, Metropark and Newark before arriving at Penn Station in New York City.
Matthew Haag writes for The Times about the intersection of real estate and politics in the New York region. He has been a journalist for two decades.
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