Listen up, St. Patrick’s Day revelers. NJ Transit doesn’t want you to use the train, the bus or light rail as a rolling bar during celebrations that begin this weekend.

The mere mention of drunken revealers on a train is enough to inspire an eye roll from other, non-celebrating riders and train crews, who wind up babysitting Leprechauns gone wild. The series of celebrations over March weekends, leading up to the actual day, is an amplification of what train crews and bus drivers endure on regular weekends.

NJ transit employees that work on Friday and Saturday nights, and have to deal with the hoards of drunk youths, are the bravest people in the world — Conor the Mick (@TheNJMick) February 3, 2019

To head off trouble, NJ Transit is banning all drinks, alcoholic and non-alcoholic, from buses trains and light rail on Saturday and Sunday. It doesn’t matter whether the beverage is sealed in a closed container or non-alcoholic, just don’t bring it on board.

The ban coincides with the Belmar St. Patrick’s Day parade on Sunday. NJ Transit is offering extra train service to and from the parade. There also is an unofficial bar crawl event in Hoboken that police and most locals would rather have you ignore.

Passengers can expect similar bans by NJ Transit, including on St. Patrick’s Day itself, which falls on a Sunday. That at least spares regular commuters from riding with drunken parade goers going to and from New York.

How did the ban evolve?

In 2012, two train crew members were assaulted in parade related incidents, said Christopher Trucillo, NJ Transit’s police chief, in an earlier interview. A ban was instituted and that didn’t happen in 2013 or 2014, he said.

NJ Transit has extended the ban to other events associated with alcohol, including the infamous Santa-Con and various concerts. Expect other transit systems, including New York’s MTA to do the same, as they have in past years.

The ban doesn’t mean problems have disappeared.

In 2017, NJ Transit police responded to 1,526 cases where they were called to provide medical assistance for intoxicated people or check on their welfare, Trucillo said. Those who behave badly can be arrested for disorderly conduct. Last year, 2,567 disorderly conduct incidents were reported that resulted in 1,640 arrests.

There’s another reason for the potential drunk and disorderly person to take a beat. Assaulting a uniformed train crew member or bus driver carries a higher, more serious, aggravated assault change, required under state law, Trucillo said.

Of the 59 aggravated assaults in 2017, 45 resulted in an arrest. In 2017, there were 79 non-aggravated assault cases, and 44 arrests were made, he said.

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

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