NJ Transit's trains are no longer the worst in the nation for breaking down and delaying commuters.

That mark of embarrassment went to Boston's Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority, which had the most commuter train breakdowns in 2016, according to federal statistics released Tuesday.

NJ Transit trains had been ranked the worst in 2015 for breaking down by the Federal Transit Administration, when it released it's National Transit Database last fall.

NEC train #3951, the 5:13pm from PSNY, is CANCELLED due to a mechanical problem. Customers to train ... https://t.co/eZoqbG2Z7W — NJ TRANSIT - NEC (@NJTRANSIT_NEC) October 10, 2017

The MBTA had 338 total mechanical failures last year, compared to NJ Transit's 236, according to the FTA. NJ Transit managed to cut the number of disabled trains by close to 50 percent between 2015 and 2016, from 540 to 236, according to federal statistics.

But out of the seven commuter railroads that run their own trains, NJ Transit had the worst breakdown record. The MBTA hires a contractor to run its trains.

NJ Transit's trains ran the third most-miles in the nation at 61.39 million miles in 2016, according to the FTA. The New York MTA's Metro north ran the most miles at 69.58 million followed by the Long Island Railroad at 66.76 million. By comparison, the MBTA's commuter trains ran 24.14 million miles, the FTA said.

The Long Island Rail Road saw 132 total mechanical failures, while Metro North had 89, according to FTA.

NJ Transit is in the midst of designing replacements for its oldest electric powered rail cars and phasing out older single level cars which will be replaced by new multi-level trains.

NJ Transit buses fared better, coming in as the sixth-worst in the nation for breakdowns with 9,978 total mechanical failures last year, the same ranking as in 2015, according to FTA data. Miami-Dade Transit was the worst with 18,750 bus failures, followed by the Chicago Transit Authority with 17,654.

NJ Transit is replacing its older, high mileage cruiser style commuter buses over the next several years.

NJ Transit's light rail did the best, placing in the bottom five of the FTA rankings with 126 total mechanical failures among light rail systems with the fewest total breakdowns.



Larry Higgs may be reached at lhiggs@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @commutinglarry. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

