Watch Live: NJ Transit strike ending as engineers approve tentative deal
18. May 2025
The NJ Transit strike is coming to an end after the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen approved a deal. Train service will resume on Tuesday.
The strike halted trains across New Jersey for three days before the the tentative agreement with the engineers was reached.
“New Jersey’s first rail strike in decades has officially come to an end,” New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said. “Starting Tuesday, May 20, NJ Transit will once again provide rail service to the more than 100,000 riders who depend on it every, single day.”
Trains may not be operational Monday because the train cars and hundreds of miles of tracks must be inspected first, an NJ Transit source told CBS News New York.
Why NJ Transit engineers walked off the job
In negotiations, BLET, the union representing about 460 engineers, had been arguing neighboring transit agencies paid more and that the cost of living has gone up in New Jersey. NJ Transit had said the requested raises would blow up the agency’s budget and result in higher costs for riders.
Engineers walked off the job at 12:01 a.m. Friday after negotiations were unsuccessful. The strike fully shut down NJ Transit rail service, along with Metro-North’s west of Hudson service.
It created a chaotic commute Friday morning as more than 100,000 people who ride the rails daily had to find alternate routes, leading to crowding on buses, PATH trains and even ferries.
NJ Transit came up with a contingency plan while asking commuters to work from home.
The last NJ Transit strike was back in 1983 and it lasted about three weeks. Most recently, there was a potential strike in 2016, but it was averted just a day before it was scheduled to begin.
This is breaking news. Check for updates.
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