ATLANTIC CITY — NJ Transit will reopen the Atlantic City Rail Line almost two weeks earlier than expected with additional lines, Gov. Phil Murphy said Wednesday during a speech at a transportation conference in the resort.

The rail line will now open May 12, rather than May 24 as previously announced.

“I wish it would have come back six months ago. They took a lot longer than they should have,” said Carol Stephens, 60, of Galloway Township, who has taken the Atlantic City line for 28 years to her job in Camden. “I know they lost a lot of passengers by waiting so long.”

Murphy said it was important to get the service restored well ahead of Memorial Day weekend.

“This will ensure that our residents can get to work or to school with less stress and less inconvenience,” Murphy said in his address to the TransAction Conference at Tropicana Atlantic City, “and a far greater level of safety.”

Two more trains from Atlantic City will arrive in Philadelphia before noon, one of which will arrive before 9 a.m., he said.