NJ TRANSIT NYC TRAINS DIVERTED TO HOBOKEN DURING JULY AND AUGUST FOR REPAIRS; BUT FARE REDUCED

From WNBC TV:

All New Jersey Transit's Morris & Essex Midtown Direct trains will be canceled during the six-week overhaul at Penn Station this summer, Gov. Chris Christie announced Tuesday. 

The Morris & Essex Line's Midtown Direct trains will end in Hoboken, and from there, PATH trains and ferries will honor NJ Transit fares on that line.

Morris & Essex riders will get a discount of 56 to 63 percent during the work -- so a monthly pass from Gladstone to New York City, for example, would drop from $451 to $168, and still include the free ferry and PATH transfers.

It's the only line that will be affected during the work in July and August, Christie said at a news conference Tuesday. NJ Transit riders on other lines won't be cross-honored on the PATH or ferry.

Christie estimates a loss of revenue to New Jersey at about $15 million.

Amtrak, the owner and landlord of Penn Station, announced earlier in the month that it's finally getting around to fixing tracks and switches that have been crumbling for years. The overhaul will cut down service for both NJ Transit and LIRR commuters for six weeks.

Both Christie and Cuomo have called for a private operator to take over Penn Station, blaming "decades of underinvestment" by Amtrak for a "continuing string of infrastructure failures at Penn Station."