NJ Tansit

ATLANTIC CITY – NJ TRANSIT has accelerated the restoration of service on the Atlantic City Rail Line and Princeton Branch (Dinky), announcing that both rail services will resume on Sunday, May 12.  The new date is nearly two weeks ahead of the agency’s target date and fulfills the commitment to have these services operating prior to Memorial Day weekend.

“Our economy relies upon our residents getting where they need to go reliably and safely, and Governor Christie’s nearly decade-long mismanagement of NJ TRANSIT undermined the capacity of NJ TRANSIT to fulfill that responsibility,” Gov. Phil Murphy said.

“The importance of these rail lines was made abundantly clear during our town hall meetings. The needs of our customers remain our highest priority. I am pleased that we were able to restore reliable services to these regions ahead of schedule,” New Jersey DOT Commissioner and NJ TRANSIT Board Chairwoman Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti said.

“I am pleased we are able to restore service sooner than projected.  I know how critical these services are to those who rely on them,” NJ TRANSIT Executive Director Kevin Corbett said.  “I did not want these rail lines to remain out of service for a minute longer than necessary, and I’m grateful that we’re able to resume service nearly two weeks ahead of schedule.  I want to acknowledge our employees’ hard work that made this possible, and thank our customers for their patience while we were able to successfully meet our interim 2018 Positive Train Control requirements and complete necessary track replacement work on the ACRL.”

As part of an effort to provide more reliable and frequent service for Atlantic City area commuters, the ACRL will resume with an improved schedule to better match service with customer demand. In response to customer feedback gained through NJ TRANSIT’s listening tour and enhanced customer focus, the new schedule includes an adjustment to a weekday a.m. peak period roundtrip which fills a gap in arrivals at Philadelphia 30th St. Station during the morning rush hour. The agency will now offer five trains that arrive in Philadelphia prior to noon, up from three, and reduce wait times between trains to a maximum of two hours throughout the service day. Similar adjustments have been made to the weekend schedule. 

Princeton Branch (Dinky) service will resume with a schedule similar to its previous operation prior to the temporary suspension.

Full schedule for the Atlantic City Rail Line:


Nanette LoBiondo Galloway

Award winning journalist covering news, events and people of Atlantic County for more than 20 years.