The U.S. Department of Transportation has awarded New Jersey Transit about $147 million through the Federal Transit Administration's Public Transportation Emergency Relief Program for repair, recovery, and resiliency projects associated with Superstorm Sandy, NJ Transit announced Monday, March, 2, 2015.

The funding will be used to continue to advance work on the Morris & Essex and North Jersey Coast lines’ signal and communications systems, repair of traction power and distribution systems that support the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail system along New Jersey’s Hudson River waterfront, and other long-term recovery efforts.

Superstorm Sandy inflicted heavy damage on NJ Transit rights-of-way and rolling stock in late October 2012.

Funding also will allow NJ Transit o advance resilience projects, including the installation of water-tight doors and barriers at the corporation’s Meadows Maintenance Complex, and the installation of more resilient signal systems at Hoboken Yard. Both locations lie just above sea level, making them vulnerable to storm surges.

“We now have an additional $147 million to invest in projects that will not only help us finish the repair and recovery work, but also advance the critical resiliency program that will better position us against future events,” said Transportation Commissioner and NJ Transit Board Chairman Jamie Fox.

NJ Transit said it previously was awarded approximately $144 million in Public Transportation Emergency Relief Funds in May 2013, and an additional approximately $66 million in June 2014.