New Jersey train strike ends after snarling New York travel

Trains sit at the Hoboken Station in Hoboken, New Jersey, during a transit strike on May 16, 2025. Train services ground to a halt in New Jersey one minute after midnight on May 16, according to the railway operator, as the US state’s first mass transit strike in decades took hold following a pay dispute. The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) union is seeking new contracts for around 450 engineers with hourly wages matching those of the neighboring Long Island Rail Road. (Photo by Leonardo Munoz / AFP)

NEW YORK, United States — Train service in New Jersey will resume Tuesday after striking transit workers and officials came to a tentative agreement following several days of mass misery for New York area commuters.

Train engineers seeking higher pay went on the first statewide transit strike in more than 40 years on Friday at a minute after midnight as contract talks fell apart.

Many area commuters were caught unaware and left scrambling to get into nearby New York using other means of transportation such as Uber or Amtrak, the national rail system, both of which can be many multitudes more expensive.

New Jersey Transit and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) announced Sunday in separate statements that they had reached “a tentative agreement.”

But they warned that train service would not resume for approximately 24 hours, with the transit authority reporting that it needed the time “to inspect and prepare tracks, rail cars and other infrastructure before returning to full scheduled service.”

Neither side provided details of the agreement.

BLET said the terms would be sent for consideration to the union’s 450 members who work as locomotive engineers or are trainees, with details and figures to be disclosed publicly after the members are able to review them.

The union said it has been locked in a years-long dispute with NJ Transit, with its members going five years without a raise.

BLET workers had picketed outside rail stations, with many waving signs that accused NJ Transit executives of treating themselves to expensive perks while train drivers’ wages lagged behind those of colleagues in other areas of the country.

NJ Transit officials, however, have said the wage hike requested by the union would end up costing the company and taxpayers millions.

READ: Biden seeks to avert economically damaging US train strike