BERGEN EDITION

T O D A Y 8 7 ° / 7 0 °Some sun returning; more humid

T O M O R R O W 9 1 °/7 2 °Some sun, a thunderstorm in the p.m.

REX SHOWS HE PLANS TO TAKE CONTROL OF JETS. TARA SULLIVAN, S-1

50 CentsW E D N E S D A YAugust 8, 2012

NRA seeks fundsafter fatal shooting

Three days after a gunman shot dead12 people in a suburban Denver movietheater, the National Rifle Associationsent out a letter asking for money.

“The future of your Second Amend-ment rights will be at stake,” the lettersaid. “And nothing less than the future ofour country and our freedom will be atstake.”

The letter, dated July 23 and sent toNRA supporters, doesn’t mention thegunfire in Aurora, Colo.

— Complete story on A-8

Some see signsof more hiring

The number of job openings nation-wide ticked up in June to 3.8 million,the highest in nearly four years, in atrend some North Jersey headhuntersand employment agencies say they arealso seeing.

Some said they have seen added op-portunities in recent months, as em-ployers are more willing to take theplunge and hire. But others said they’veseen little change in the labor marketsince the start of the year.

— Complete story on L-7

More medalsfor U.S. gymnast

U.S. gymnast Aly Raisman wrapped upthe London Olympics with a gold on floorexercise, a first for a U.S. woman, and abronze on balance beam. She leaves as themost decorated of the Fierce Five withthree medals.

ä It will be an All-American party inbeach volleyball today when two U.S. pair-ings compete for the gold.

— Full Olympics coverage starts on S-1

Marvin Hamlisch,composer, dies

Marvin Hamlisch, who composedmore than 40 filmscores, including “So-phie’s Choice,” “Ordi-nary People,” “TheWay We Were” and“Take the Money andRun,” died Monday at68.

Hamlisch won three Oscars, fourEmmys, four Grammys, a Tony, aPulitzer and three Golden Globes.

— Obituary on L-6

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LONDON 2012

Maintenance fundsIn 1996, Amtrak and NJ Transit each agreed to contribute matchingdollars to a joint benefit program that pays for capital projects onthe Northeast Corridor. NJ Transit sevice on the corridor hasclimbed over the last decade, but funding has not kept up.

40

60

80

100

$120 million

’11’10’09’08’07’06’05’04’03’02’01’00’99’98’97Sources: NJ Transit, Amtrak

R.L. REBACH/STAFF ARTISTDAVE SHEINGOLD/STAFF ANALYSIS

$55million

$50million

$111million

A steptowardhealthierchildrenDrop in cholesterolmay result fromfewer trans fatsBy MIKE STOBBETHE ASSOCIATED PRESS

ATLANTA — Finally some good newsabout cholesterol and kids: A big govern-ment study shows that in the past decade,the proportion of children who have highcholesterol has fallen.

The results are surprising, given thatthe childhood obesity rate didn’t budge.

How can that be?Some experts think that while most

kids may not be eating less or exercisingmore, they may be getting fewer trans fats.That’s because the artery-clogging ingre-dient has been removed or reduced inmany processed or fried foods such asdoughnuts, cookies and french fries.

“That’s my leading theory,” said Dr.Sarah de Ferranti, director of preventivecardiology at Boston Children’s Hospital.She wrote an editorial that accompaniesthe study.

The study did not look at the reasonsfor the decline, but its lead author, Dr.Brian Kit of the Centers for Disease Con-trol and Prevention, said the theory

N.J. officialsunfazed bylawsuit againstsports bettingLeagues say plan wouldcause ‘irreparable harm’By JOHN BRENNANSTAFF WRITER

Four major professional leagues andthe NCAA sued New Jersey on Tuesday,saying that Trenton’s plan to allow bettingon athletic competition poses a threat tothe integrity of their games.

But an array of powerful figures in thestate — including the governor and a lead-ing Democratic state senator — shruggedoff the lawsuit, saying that a legal battlehad been anticipated.

“Listen, there’s a federal law that waspassed that restricts the states that canparticipate in sports gambling to justfour,” Governor Christie said at a StateHouse press conference. “We believe thatlaw is unconstitutional.”

State Sen. Ray Lesniak, D-Union, saidhe welcomed the legal challenge.

“Let the games begin,” said Lesniak, anattorney who once filed his own lawsuitagainst the federal law. “We drew a line inthe sand and dared the sports organiza-tions to cross it. The lawsuit today means

Assemblyman sued over $500,000 investmentBy MELISSA HAYESSTATE HOUSE BUREAU

With his military contracts waning, As-semblyman Robert Schroeder said hewas taking his modular tent company ina new direction — building housing forthe oil industry in North Dakota. But alawsuit filed by an investor in that latestventure alleges that Schroeder took$500,000 for a project that doesn’t exist.

New Jersey’s attorneygeneral chargedSchroeder, a WashingtonTownship Republicanwho represents the 39thDistrict, on Friday withwriting nearly $400,000

in bad checks to investors. Another in-vestor filed court papers Tuesday saying

that Schroeder had spent $500,000 thatwas supposed to be held in trust for theirNorth Dakota housing project.

Tuesday’s filing in that civil case is thelatest in a series of legal complaints re-garding Schroeder’s finances. Lawsuitsfiled in state and federal courts paint a pic-ture of a business that was often so far be-hind in its bills that contractors and sup-

pliers had to take it to court to get pay-ments. And Schroeder’s political allies aretaking money he gave their campaignsand donating it to charities. Others are al-ready talking about replacing him, shouldhe resign.

Schroeder did not return repeated callsseeking comment. His criminal lawyer,Michael Critchley, a prominent defenseattorney, also did not return calls Tuesday.

It’s latest legal issue with his finances

Stopped on their tracks

By KAREN ROUSE and DAVE SHEINGOLDSTAFF WRITERS

NJ Transit riders have endured thousandsof delays over the past decade on Manhat-tan-bound trains that were caused by failingcars, competition for track space, and a lackof funding to keep the heavily used rail linesknown as the Northeast Corridor in a stateof good repair, an analysis shows.

And even as NJ Transit has improved itson-time performance on the corridor andother lines, including the Bergen/Main andPascack Valley, the corridor — owned byAmtrak — has remained the problem childof a system dependent on it for access toNew York City.

“It’s a very common occurrence even tothis day to hear [train conductors] say thereare delays because of signal problems,” saidJames McCrane, who commutes intoNewark on the corridor. “When you engage

some of their people, they will cite Amtrakas a problem because those are Amtraklines. You hear grumbling from the conduc-tors.

“Getting into the city, there is invariably adelay,” he said.

The corridor runs from Washington toBoston, but the stretch that concerns NewJersey commuters is the 70 miles betweenMorrisville, Pa., and the Sunnyside rail yardin Queens. That portion handles one of fiveNJ Transit trains but in some years has ac-counted for as much as 32 percent of the de-lays systemwide, an analysis by The Recordof operating records from 2002 to 2012shows.

Officials blame funding. A look at thenumbers tells the story.

While NJ Transit sends Amtrak about$70 million a year to cover operating costs,like electricity, for running commuter trains

Lack of funds for repairs clogs busy NJ Transit rail system

SCHROEDER

TYSON TRISH/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Michael Coughlan replacing brake pads on an NJ Transit train at the maintenance facility in Kearny last week.

See CHOLESTEROL Page A-7

See TRAINS Page A-6

See BETTING Page A-7See SCHROEDER Page A-7

A-6 THE RECORD FROM PAGE ONE WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 8, 2012

Trains: Northeast Corridor a big headache for commuterson the corridor each day, NJ Tran-sit’s contribution to funding thattargets capital projects sits near1996 levels.

This past year, under a joint pro-gram in which Amtrak and NJTransit contribute matching dol-lars to pay for corridor projects,$55 million was spent on replacingwood ties, improving the ventila-tion system in the East River tun-nels and power system upgrades inMetuchen, among other projects.In 1996, $50 million was spent.

What has increased, though, arethe number of NJ Transit trains op-erating on the corridor. Over thepast decade, trains have jumpedfrom 30,697 in 2002, to 41,579 lastyear, according to agency figures.

Stephen Gardner, who overseesAmtrak’s investment on theNortheast Corridor, said Amtrak,which relies on Congress for themajority of its funding, inherited arailroad that was “in very badshape.” And while improvementshave been made, he said the sys-tem has not received any signifi-cant funding increases from Con-gress since 1976.

“We have 100-year-old bridgesthat need to be replaced,” Gardnersaid. “Much of the original instal-lation is at the end of its useful life.It’s not that it’s unsafe, but it meansit’s not as reliable, and it’s quite ex-pensive to maintain.”

Systemwide, NJ Transit had anon-time performance rate close to95 percent last year. But that hasdone little to mollify commuterswho, in a customer service surveyfrom February and March, gavethe agency middling grades — a 5.3out of 10. The corridor received alower score, 5.

The concentration of delaysduring the morning commute onthe corridor hints at the source oftheir dissatisfaction.

The Record analysis showedthat while the number of late orcanceled trains on the overall sys-tem has dropped in recent years,morning rush-hour commuterssaw a spike in late or no-showtrains — from 2,642 in 2010, to3,600 in 2011. NJ Transit countstrains as late if they arrive six min-utes or more behind schedule.

Data also show delays are dis-proportionately high on the North-east Corridor, where in some win-ter months, 20 to 30 percent oftrains are late. So far this year, de-lay rates on all but the Atlantic Citylines are down. Good weather wasa factor, officials say.

‘Very sensitive time’Martin Robins, director emeri-

tus of the Voorhees TransportationCenter at Rutgers University,called the morning commute a“very sensitive time.”

“If something does go wrong,opposed to 2 in the afternoon, it’smuch more noticeable and cancreate an impression of poor serv-ice,” said Robins, a deputy execu-tive director at NJ Transit in the1980s. “You have the most peopleusing the corridor and that has areverberating effect because of itsown trains, and the service thatfeeds into it.”

While the Northeast Corridor isplagued by aging systems, datashow problems with railcars andlocomotives — like stuck brakes,breakdowns and jammed doors —

are the leading cause for delays.In May of last year, for instance,

stuck brakes resulted in a 34-minute delay for New York-boundriders. Two months later, a dam-aged pantograph — the piece ofequipment that connects to theoverhead electrical lines — forcedNJ Transit to cancel a midday trainout of Newark Penn Station,records show.

Data also showed:ä The Northeast Corridor line

had the worst on-time perform-ance (91.7 percent), while theMain/Bergen and Pascack Valleylines had the best (97.4 and 97.5percent, respectively).

ä One of 12 morning rush-hourtrains were delayed, comparedwith one of 18 for the afternoonrush hour and one of 24 in off-peak hours.

ä Problems with broken or fail-

ing cars and infrastructure causedabout half the transit system’s de-lays, with another 20 to 25 percenta year resulting from problemscaused by the passengers and thepublic. Human error by transitworkers accounts for 7 to 10 per-cent of the delays each year.

Just this week, NJ Transit wasforced to evacuate a Spring Valley-bound train out of Hoboken whenfumes flowed into railcars, sicken-ing passengers and crew members.

John Durso Jr., spokesman forNJ Transit, said many of the me-chanical problems occur on olderrailcars that the agency has beenreplacing over time with its morepopular, more reliable multilevelcars. Among its 1,068 cars, morethan 200 are models known as Ar-row III, which were built in the1970s.

Durso said delays caused by

problems with passenger cars havedeclined as the older models arephased out.

Other delays can occur whenNJ Transit and Amtrak trains com-pete for a spot on the NortheastCorridor. Amtrak controls the or-

der in which trains are dispatchedalong the corridor, and NJ Transitofficials are often annoyed whentheir trains are made late by Am-trak’s giving preference to its owntrains.

“It’s seen as a problem,” saidKevin O’Connor, general managerfor NJ Transit’s rail division. “Whyshould an NJ Transit train that ison time be held back for an Am-trak train?”

An Amtrak spokesman, CliffCole, said Amtrak dispatchestrains based on multiple factors, in-cluding weather, available trackspace and scheduling. There areinstances in which NJ Transittrains are given preference, he said.

But it is the aging systems on theNortheast Corridor that have mostoften disrupted service for cus-tomers and been a source of ten-sion between NJ Transit and Am-trak. Officials at both organizationsagree the system is in need of re-pair. But which agency shouldbear the burden is less clear.

One great weakness, Amtrak’sGardner said, is the system thatsupplies power to the signals. An-other is the Portal Bridge, a 100-year-old swing-span that carriesAmtrak and NJ Transit trains overthe Hackensack River in Secaucusand often becomes stuck in theopen position, preventing trainsfrom passing.

Portal Bridge’s failures account-ed for roughly 75 NJ Transit delayslast year, data show.

“The bridge is antiquated andobsolete by any measurable stan-dard,” Durso said. “Not only doesthe bridge not permit trains to trav-el at full speed, but the opening ofthe bridge for boat traffic duringthe morning or evening rush —even for 10 minutes — can have adramatic ripple effect resulting in

significant delays for customerswho utilize the Northeast Corri-dor.”

NJ Transit and Amtrak in 1996started the joint benefit program —a pot of money into which eachagency would contribute matchingdollars to pay for infrastructuremaintenance on the corridor. Forthe first five years, each agencykicked in $25 million. Those con-tributions climbed to $55.5 millioneach in 2007. But by last year,funding had returned to earlier lev-els; each agency put in $27.5 mil-lion.

Amtrak’s contribution to thejoint benefit program is in additionto its own capital investment inNew Jersey’s section of the corri-dor, which officials have not dis-closed.

The joint contributions, NJTransit’s O’Connor said, are formaintenance on the system.“That’s not state of good repair andthat’s two different things,” he said.“The amount of money we put into[the corridor] would have to besignificantly higher.”

While O’Connor declined to sayhow much it would cost to returnthe line to a state of good repair, NJTransit Executive Director JimWeinstein has said it would takebillions.

“There are a number of priori-ties in the agency overall, with re-gard to its capital expenditure,”said David Dieck, NJ Transit’s di-rector of rail contracts. “Some of itis new equipment acquisition.”

O’Connor pointed out thatsince 2004, NJ Transit has investedadditional millions of dollars inprojects along the Northeast Cor-ridor, including a $79 million reha-bilitation of the Trenton TransitCenter in 2005, a $44 million plat-form replacement project inMetuchen in 2009 and $2.5 mil-lion for an elevator tower projectin New Brunswick in 2010.

Durso said that through the pro-gram, NJ Transit has since 2004 in-vested $328 million “to supportservice on a railroad we do notown and we do not control.”

Issue disputedCole said Amtrak does not be-

lieve ownership of the corridor is arelevant issue, and some criticsagree.

Joseph Cliff, a former director ofplanning for the Long Island RailRoad, who regularly attends NJTransit board meetings, has beenpressing NJ Transit to invest atleast $50 million more in the corri-dor each year, an expense he saidis justified by NJ Transit’s heavyuse.

“If you live in an apartmentbuilding and something breaksdown, you worry about that,” hesaid.

Some relief could come from a$450 million high-speed-rail grantthe U.S. Department of Trans-portation awarded Amtrak lastyear to fix the corridor betweenNew Brunswick and Trenton. Itwill be used to upgrade electricalpower, signal systems, track andoverhead wires.

Officials at both agencies saytalks have occurred betweenWeinstein and Amtrak PresidentJoseph Boardman about funding,but no promises have been made.

Joshua Crandall, founder ofClever Commute, a digital mediaservice that allows commuters toalert each other to commutingconditions — from mechanicalbreakdowns to crawling trains,said NJ Transit riders struggle withthe system.

“People on the corridor are gen-erally having a hard time,” saidCrandall.

Crandall said those commutersdon’t care who owns the line, theyjust want to reach their destinationon time.

But delays aren’t their only is-sue, he said. They’re vexed by poorseating, a lack of air conditioningor platform problems, he said.

“We are customers of NJ Tran-sit,” he said. “The buck has to stopwith them.”

Email: rouse@northjersey.com.Twitter: @rouse_karen

Traffic versus delaysPercentage of traffic on NJ Transit train lines,compared with the percentage of delayed trainsfor each line, from 2009 through June 2012:

All other lines

Northeast Corridor

Pascack Valley

Main-Bergen

R.L. REBACH/STAFF ARTISTDAVE SHEINGOLD/STAFF ANALYSISSource: NJ Transit

30.5%

2.7%

58%

8.8%

Train delays

Train traffic

19%5.5%

17.1%

58.4%

Note: Delays are trainsthat arrived late, werecancelled or stoppedbefore reaching their

destination.

R.L. REBACH/STAFF ARTISTDAVE SHEINGOLD/STAFF ANALYSISSource: NJ Transit

On-time performancePercent of NJ Transit trains that arrived within five minutes ofschedule, by train line:

85

90

95

100%

Alllines

PascackValley

Main-Bergen

NortheastCorridor

’12’11’10’09’08’07’06’05’04’03’02

STAFF PHOTOS BY TYSON TRISH

Workers at the NJ Transit maintenance facility in Kearny. Breakdowns to rolling stock cause most of the railway’s delays.

A locomotive being repaired. The funding pool set up for Northeast Corridor maintenance has been steadily reduced.

From Page A-1The aging systemson the NortheastCorridor havemost oftendisrupted servicefor customers andbeen a source oftension betweenNJ Transit andAmtrak.