An escalator at the Secaucus NJ Transit station has been broken since last year, leading to crammed conditions and problems for disabled and elderly commuters, commuters say.
“This is a joke — it’s been over a year,” commuter John Hetlyn said. “I myself am capable of using stairs and whatnot, but I notice a lot of times I have to spend extra time to show elderly people and people who need to find a way upstairs.”
The escalator is one of two at the Secaucus transfer station that have been out of commission for awhile now.
A News 4 New York viewer sent photos of one of the escalators on Twitter, asking for help in getting it fixed. One photo shows commuters cramming into a line at the stairs beside the broken escalator. Another shows a sign that says escalators 1 and 18 are temporarily closed due to maintenance work.
NJ Transit had posted that the escalators would be back and working by May 1, but that clearly hadn’t happened this week. The two escalators were out-of-order on Monday. The nearest working escalators were all the way at the end of the track.
Hetlyn said members of customer service giggled when he asked about the broken escalators. They told parts for the escalators aren’t easy to get.
NJ Transit said it’s been difficult to make swift repairs because the parts are hard to find. The agency said the two escalators and others are breaking because they’re outdoors and exposed to the elements.
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“I don’t understand,” one commuter said. “It’s like you can go anywhere in the world from this station, they should fix the escalator — it should be like instant.”
