This story was reported and written by David Matthau and Sergio Bichao

Need a career change? NJ Transit is hiring — and the job comes with big bucks.

The nation’s second-busiest rail system has been struggling to keep its trains running on time, sometimes canceling as many as two dozen a day.

Officials blame this commuting nightmare in part on a lack of engineers — the people who operate the trains. The shortage is exacerbated whenever a slew of engineers call out sick.

The agency has been scrambling to fill training classes with recruits. Prospective job applicants might jump at the opportunity when they find out just how much the job pays.

The median engineer pay at NJ Transit is nearly $122,000 a year. But a handful make even more. Much more.

A New Jersey 101.5 analysis of the agency’s nearly 11,200-employee payroll finds that five engineers and five conductors made more than $200,000 last year in base pay and overtime.

Another 10 engineers and five conductors also topped $200,000 thanks to retroactive pay awarded in the 2016 contract negotiation that averted a shutdown. [Scroll down to see the list of employees.]

Of the 405 engineers on the payroll, 269 earned at least $100,000 in total pay.

And 120 engineers made at least $50,000 just in overtime and other payments in addition to their salary.

In all, NJ Transit last year spent more than $169 million on overtime, which amounts to more than 20 percent of the payroll (excluding last year’s $36.6 million retro payments.)

What NJ Transit actually pays its train engineers is more than what the agency advertises on its career website, which lists a starting salary of $76,000 after training.

Executive Director Kevin Corbett, who earns $280,000 a year, said it has become challenging to attract younger workers to become train engineers, despite the pay — which is higher than the state’s median household income of $76,000.

“It’s because we’re understaffed and it’s sort of supply and demand," Corbett said about the overtime. "I think most of the engineers are really good in putting in more overtime than they’d like to cause they are trying to help out. There are some who are able to game the system and have caused problems."

The numbers above are based on NJ Transit's complete payroll for the fiscal year that ended in June and excludes the executive director, who was appointed late in the fiscal year and not paid his full $280,000 salary, and other employees for which the data reported zero base pay for the year. The calculations above also exclude the retro payments. "Other" pay includes contractual allowances. New Jersey 101.5 obtained the data through the state Open Public Records Act.

Years of neglect add up

Lawmakers who saw New Jersey 101.5's analysis said they were not surprised and blamed years of poor planning by the agency, an independent corporation overseen by directors appointed by the governor.

Assemblyman Dan Benson, D-Mercer, chairman of the transportation committee, said the overtime “is a strong signal that this is a symptom, and a very bad one, of that neglect.”

“What we found is a system that for eight years was not holding enough training classes to make sure that we have the staff needed to run one of the largest transportation systems in the country," he said.

Corbett, who was appointed this year by Gov. Phil Murphy, said the agency ideally should have 390 engineers, but currently has 344. He said 293 engineers are needed to run the 700 daily trains, but the agency needs enough back-up workers in case anyone calls out.

Engineers have to complete a 20-month training course. NJ Transit recently graduated nine engineers. Another 12 are expected to graduate in May while nine more will graduate next fall. Corbett said NJ Transit will begin four training sessions a year, instead of one. Trainees earn $26.77 an hour.

The added engineers could be a wash, as 10 to 20 engineers leave every year — some to rail systems in neighboring states that pay even more.

Corbett agrees that the engineer shortage is due to a lack of recruitment for several years during the Chris Christie administration as older engineers were retiring, “and there was apparently no sense of urgency or no budget to restore the pipeline.”

The situation is so dire that state officials this fall relaxed a residency rule in order to allow Pennsylvania and New York residents to apply for NJ Transit jobs.

State Sen. Pat Diegnan, D-Middlesex, who chairs the Senate transportation committee, said NJ Transit went two to three years without scheduling training sessions.

"This has left us with a very serious situation," he said, adding that the overtime is "money going out the door that we shouldn’t have to spend."

Assembly Republican Leader Jon Bramnick said if NJ Transit is spending this kind of money, “I would hope the train would either show up or you would be able to tell the rider that it’s not going to show up.”

NJ Transit officials recently said they would improve efforts to notify commuters of expected canceled or delayed trains.

“I’m going to focus on the fact that the transparency to the rider is of prime importance because these people have to get to work," Bramnick said. "Yes, we have to look into why there’s so much overtime. But more importantly, tell the people why you don’t know that a train is going to show up or not show up at 7 or 8 in the morning.”

Corbett noted that even when NJ Transit has a full quota of train engineers, there still will be overtime opportunities — a fact that the agency might promote.

“You could be making $100,000 a year or more if you want the overtime, with good benefits, so I think it’s a good job.”

$200K earners at NJ Transit

Kevin Corbett, Executive Director

TOTAL: $280,000

____________________

Charles J. Bingert III, Locomotive Engineer

Base: $106,230 — Overtime: $125,864

Other: $2,160 — Retro: $17,320

TOTAL: $251,574

____________________

Gordon R. Prochnow Jr, Locomotive Engineer

Base: $160,379 — Overtime: $70,831

Other: $2,917 — Retro: $15,179

TOTAL: $249,306

____________________

Michael A. Stewart, Conductor

Base: $154,942 — Overtime: $62,137

Other: $4,502 — Retro: $17,194

TOTAL: $238,774

____________________

Peter J. Oko, Locomotive Engineer

Base: $139,254 — Overtime: $81,405

Other: $594 — Retro: $16,843

TOTAL: $238,096

____________________

Wayne Alleyne, Conductor

Base: $120,244 — Overtime: $87,452

Other: $5,507 — Retro: $19,959

TOTAL: $233,162

____________________

George J. Burke, Syst Pwr Supervisor

Base: $109,885 — Overtime: $95,872

Other: $8,449 — Retro: $16,890

TOTAL: $231,096

____________________

Charles Hohenstein, Conductor

Base: $149,186 — Overtime: $59,468

Other: $2,805 — Retro: $18,489

TOTAL: $229,947

____________________

Alan J. Imperiale, Police Sergeant

Base: $101,943 — Overtime: $105,602

Other: $3,499 — Retro: $17,965

TOTAL: $229,009

____________________

Jose R. Tirado, Police Officer

Base: $93,410 — Overtime: $99,520

Other: $6,974 — Retro: $28,214

TOTAL: $228,117

____________________

John Peters, Conductor

Base: $111,044 — Overtime: $89,327

Other: $5,243 — Retro: $19,818

TOTAL: $225,432

____________________

John J. Maimone, Locomotive Engineer

Base: $101,095 — Overtime: $107,592

Other: $2,538 — Retro: $13,223

TOTAL: $224,448

____________________

Frank L. Gregory Jr, Police Officer

Base: $90,119 — Overtime: $77,198

Other: $28,105 — Retro: $28,549

TOTAL: $223,971

____________________

Jermaine T. Hill, Police Officer

Base: $97,693 — Overtime: $84,102

Other: $13,352 — Retro: $28,597

TOTAL: $223,744

____________________

Laquan L. Hudson, Detective

Base: $98,213 — Overtime: $83,081

Other: $19,508 — Retro: $22,927

TOTAL: $223,729

____________________

Brian A. Alleyne, Conductor

Base: $119,731 — Overtime: $79,629

Other: $2,387 — Retro: $20,058

TOTAL: $221,804

____________________

David R. Jamison, Locomotive Engineer

Base: $101,188 — Overtime: $93,459

Other: $4,349 — Retro: $17,536

TOTAL: $216,532

____________________

Pasquale Pucciarelli, Technician

Base: $66,052 — Overtime: $134,277

Other: $2,604 — Retro: $13,571

TOTAL: $216,504

____________________

Boguslaw K. Lozanski, Locomotive Engineer

Base: $102,729 — Overtime: $99,012

Other: $ — Retro: $13,489

TOTAL: $215,231

____________________

William R. Richardson, Locomotive Engineer

Base: $102,522 — Overtime: $94,665

Other: $865 — Retro: $16,493

TOTAL: $214,545

____________________

Keith R. Miano, Police Lieutenant

Base: $112,144 — Overtime: $88,243

Other: $ — Retro: $13,503

TOTAL: $213,890

____________________

Paul Tarnawski, Locomotive Engineer

Base: $101,591 — Overtime: $92,015

Other: $4,019 — Retro: $16,246

TOTAL: $213,871

____________________

Kevin B. Pollard, Asst Conductor

Base: $111,847 — Overtime: $83,319

Other: $3,558 — Retro: $14,758

TOTAL: $213,482

____________________

David A. Rasmussen, Conductor

Base: $144,413 — Overtime: $52,119

Other: $2,963 — Retro: $13,634

TOTAL: $213,128

____________________

Thomas H. Ohanlon, Locomotive Engineer

Base: $104,110 — Overtime: $88,848

Other: $4,609 — Retro: $14,489

TOTAL: $212,057

____________________

Abram Hamilton, Police Sergeant

Base: $108,805 — Overtime: $95,781

Other: $ — Retro: $4,314

TOTAL: $208,900

____________________

Andrzej Bijowski, Conductor

Base: $119,999 — Overtime: $67,322

Other: $3,874 — Retro: $15,778

TOTAL: $206,972

____________________

Piotr J. Regula, Foreman III

Base: $77,874 — Overtime: $113,234

Other: $1,855 — Retro: $13,832

TOTAL: $206,795

____________________

Robert M. Marusky, Locomotive Engineer

Base: $100,013 — Overtime: $86,854

Other: $3,418 — Retro: $13,995

TOTAL: $204,280

____________________

Raymond J. Pereira, Locomotive Engineer

Base: $104,189 — Overtime: $82,873

Other: $560 — Retro: $15,468

TOTAL: $203,090

____________________

Edward Clifford, Supr C & S

Base: $96,274 — Overtime: $87,069

Other: $4,742 — Retro: $14,929

TOTAL: $203,015

____________________

James R. Benecki, Asst Conductor

Base: $109,842 — Overtime: $76,058

Other: $775 — Retro: $16,145

TOTAL: $202,820

____________________

Derek R. Peins, Police Lieutenant

Base: $90,012 — Overtime: $77,508

Other: $ — Retro: $35,080

TOTAL: $202,600

____________________

Gilbert Herbert, Locomotive Engineer

Base: $97,297 — Overtime: $84,296

Other: $4,274 — Retro: $16,691

TOTAL: $202,559

____________________

Easton W. Morris, Locomotive Engineer

Base: $96,084 — Overtime: $90,930

Other: $2,578 — Retro: $12,729

TOTAL: $202,320

____________________

Eric S. Williams, Locomotive Engineer

Base: $103,220 — Overtime: $79,066

Other: $2,298 — Retro: $17,395

TOTAL: $201,979

____________________

Melvin L. Webb, Police Sergeant

Base: $103,544 — Overtime: $87,259

Other: $ — Retro: $9,575

TOTAL: $200,378

____________________

Aldo Cammalleri Jr, Conductor

Base: $90,197 — Overtime: $89,596

Other: $4,522 — Retro: $16,045

TOTAL: $200,361

____________________

Christopher J. Tremper, Locomotive Engineer

Base: $107,702 — Overtime: $80,795

Other: $402 — Retro: $11,291

TOTAL: $200,189