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Ready to negotiate: NJ Transit CEO Kolluri as rail strike commences
As the rail service serves some 350,000 rail passengers a day, including tens of thousands of commuters into New York City, Kolluri stressed the importance of reaching an agreement.
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Avani Acharya - Fri, 16, May 2025
- 11:21 EDT
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NJ Transit president and chief executive officer Kris Kolluri speaking at the press briefing on May 16. / X/@GovMurphy
NJ Transit's Indian American president and chief executive officer Kris Kolluri said on May 15 that his office will make all efforts to reach an agreement with the locomotive engineers, who have announced a strike following a pay dispute.
The strike, which began one minute after midnight on May 16, brought train services to a halt in New Jersey. According to the railway operator, it is the US state's first mass transit strike in decades.
Expressing his commitment to reach an agreement with NJ transit enginners at the earliest, Kolluri said, “I have always said that any deal we reach would have to be fair to our engineers and fiscally responsible without burdening our riders or the taxpayers of New Jersey.”
Also Read: Gov.Murphy elects Kris Kolluri as new NJ TRANSIT CEO
“While we, unfortunately, were unable to finalize a deal Thursday night, I am committed, as I have been since my first day on the job in January, to remaining at the bargaining table for as long as it takes to get an agreement finalized," he added.
The strike comes after a tentative agreement was reached on March 10, 2025. However, the leadership of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen (BLET), which represents 450 NJ Transit engineers who drive the agency's commuter trains, is the only union of NJ TRANSIT’s 15 rail unions that has not signed the initial pattern bargaining agreement.
The union has said it is simply aiming to raise the engineers' salaries to match those at other commuter railroads in the region.
As a result of the strike, trains throughout New Jersey stopped operations on May 16 and will not begin new trips. NJ Transit said in a statement it would increase bus service on existing lines and charter private buses to operate from several satellite lots to help ease the impact but warned buses would only be able to handle around 20 percent of rail customers.
The agency also advised employers to allow their employees to work from home if possible, limiting travel on the NJ TRANSIT system to essential purposes only.
As the rail service serves some 350,000 rail passengers a day, including tens of thousands of commuters into New York City, Kolluri stressed the importance of reaching an agreement. "We have an obligation to the hundreds of thousands of NJ TRANSIT customers to work around-the-clock until a deal is reached and rail service can resume for all those who rely on it every day," he said.
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