NJ Transit, Amtrak: We're ready for Joaquin

Whether it's a hurricane or tropical storm, transit officials are preparing for the worst when Joaquin barges up the coast early next week.

NJ Transit officials have located "safe havens" to store its infrastructure in the event of a storm, particularly rail cars and equipment stored at the Meadows Maintenance Complex.

It's a concern rooted in experience: When superstorm Sandy made landfall three years ago, the agency suffered an estimated $625 million in losses, including more than 300 rail cars and locomotives – many stored at the Meadowlands Maintenance Complex.

In addition, various tracks, bridges, tunnels and electrical systems were damaged during that storm.

Service was not fully restored until more than one month after Sandy made landfall on Oct. 29, 2012.

"NJ Transit is actively monitoring the path of the storm and is fully prepared to implement our rail, bus, light rail and Access Link storm plan to minimize potential service suspensions and delays to the extent possible," NJ Transit spokeswoman Nancy Snyder said in an email.

Other crews are inspecting equipment culverts, sandbags, drainage pipes and rights-of-way to ensure there aren't any blockages that could worsen flooding.

In a press conference on Thursday morning, Gov. Chris Christie said a plan to move trains equipment wouldn’t be enforced until Joaquin’s path becomes more clear.

“Right now, the focus is on those four southern counties. But as we get a better handle on Joaquin, we’ll have to make decisions whether to move equipment out of where it is now to safer areas,” Christie said.

Moving such equipment could have a delay on normal commuter service, since some assets would not be available.

“Joaquin could have an effect on those assets and, if it will, we’ll move them,” Christie said. “That could cause some delays because we’ll have less equipment to move people.”

The agency's bus staff are currently inspecting equipment and facilities and will be on standby to respond during the storm.

Depending on the track of the storm, Amtrak officials will also begin moving equipment and infrastructure to higher ground or destinations away from the storm, spokesman Craig Schulz said.

Those decisions will be made in the coming days as the track of the storm becomes more clear, he said.

“It’s a little uncertain here actually right now because we don’t know what the track of the storm is going to be,” Schulz said. “We’re keeping a close eye on the forecast and doing a lot of coordination.”

Engineers are currently in the field clearing storm drains and testing pumps systems, especially in the Hudson River rail tunnels connecting New Jersey and New York.

Those tunnels are of a chief concern: Though they have been targeted for repairs for over a decade, superstorm Sandy made them a priority.

During that storm, flooding salt water fried utility systems and corroded concrete walls, leaving behind salt deposits that continue to cause headaches for Amtrak crews and rail commuters.

“The effect was devastating,” Amtrak Northeast Corridor planner Drew Galloway said in July. "The tunnels were not designed to be immersed. They weren’t sealed.”

The tunnels have been the cause of numerous delays both on Amtrak and NJ Transit trains that use the tunnels. If they fail, it would cause a commuting crisis for the entire Northeast Corridor line, from Boston to Washington.

“We’re very mindful of what happened during Sandy and we’ll be keeping a close eye on them throughout,” Schulz said. “It’s a little bit early – there’s a lot of uncertainty in the forecast – but we’re preparing for any range of possibilities.”

“The track structure itself only works through good performance of its drainage system, and that was all heavily compromised because of the sediment that came in from the storm,” Galloway said. “We pumped it out and did what we could, but there’s no way to flush it out.”

Mike Davis: (732) 643-4223; mdavis@gannettnj.com