During the transit strike on May 16, 2025, a “railroad service has been stopped” sign appears at Secaucus Junction Station in Secaucus, New Jersey.
Leonardo Munoz | AFP | Getty Images
Chris Kolli, CEO of New Jersey’s giant commuter railroad and New Jersey’s transit agency, said talks aimed at resolving the strike between train engineers and New Jersey’s giant commuter railroad, picked up on Saturday and continued on Sunday.
The locomotive engineer strike began on the rail system on Friday, with 350,000 riders every day looking for other ways to work from home, cross the state, or travel across the Hudson River to New York City.
Kolluri spoke on Saturday at Broad Street Station in Newark, saying the agency is preparing for the week’s commute by “registering” buses to help train station commuters. However, he warned that the bus could not handle the full volume of the commuter rail system.
Kolluri said he, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and the President of Train Train, Mark Wallace, agreed to meet on Saturday. It was unclear whether both parties would meet ahead of the National Mediation Committee meeting, which is already set for Sunday.
“We’re going to meet the union today, with the goal of working on them tomorrow, to get them back to work and to be able to provide the trustworthy service they need,” Kolli said.
In a phone interview, Wallace confirmed that he and Koruli will resume negotiations that ended Saturday afternoon in Newark just before the strike.
“If we came out together, we would make a deal,” Wallace said.
Transit in New Jersey has a train yard just above the Delaware River from Trenton, a suburban town outside Morrisville. “United We Negotiated,” Pickett, wearing a red shirt, held a sign not too far from the yard on Saturday and bladed music.
Bill Craven, a 25-year veteran engineer, actively explained the mood among the union members. He said they don’t usually get together as they usually pass each other on rails at 100 mph.
“Most of us would rather run trains, that’s what we do for our livelihoods. We don’t want to disrupt our lives, the lives of other people, but that’s where we haven’t had a raise in six years,” he said.
The strike comes after Thursday’s latest round of negotiations did not bring about an agreement. This was the state’s first transport strike in over 40 years, a month after union members overwhelmingly rejected a labor agreement with management.
Wallace walked the Picket Line outside Penn Station in New York City on Friday. He said the engineers are committed to continuing their strike until they get fair deals. Members are pretty much in line with approving the strike last summer, with 87% rejecting the latest contract.
Wallace said engineers need to pay engineers a wage comparable to the Amtrak and Long Island railroads as engineers go out to work for better wages on other railroads.
The union is steadily draining its rank in Transit, New Jersey, as more members leave to pay more on other railroads. The number of NJ Transit Engineers has been reduced from 500 a few months ago to around 400. The engineers are responsible for the train operation, ensuring safe and smooth transportation between stations.
New Jersey Democrat Gov. Phil Murphy said Friday that “were reaching a final deal that is fair for employees, while also being affordable for New Jersey commuters and taxpayers.”
Transit, New Jersey, is the country’s third largest transport system, operates buses and railroads in the state, offering roughly 1 million weekday trips, including New York City. The strike will shut down all NJ Transit commuter trains that provide a route for widely used public transport between Penn Station on one side of the Hudson River and the other New Jersey community, as well as Newark Airport, which is tackling recent unrelated delays.
