NJ TRANSIT graduates set to help fill locomotive engineer gap

Gov. Phil Murphy and NJ TRANSIT Executive Director Kevin Corbett recognized NJ TRANSIT’s latest Locomotive Engineer Training Class for passing and graduating the Northeast Operating Rules Advisory Committee (NORAC) and physical characteristics exams. The Governor presented each trainee with a certificate of achievement, as the class wraps up its final days of on-the-job training.

The 12 trainees completed the 24 weeks of formal classroom instruction and passed extensive testing, including a final exam of nearly 800 questions. The soon-to-be graduates are near the end of the final stage of the 78-week-long program. Later this month, each trainee will have to qualify on their division to become certified and qualified locomotive engineers.

“The trainees here today are the first cohort of an expanded engineering corps, charged with the great task of moving our residents and commuters safely and reliably across our state every day,” said Governor Murphy. “These trainees have had to digest an immense amount of complex information and pass rigorous exams.

The completion of this class at the end of the month will help fulfill the agency’s commitment of training and hiring more locomotive engineers. NJ TRANSIT has increased the number of engineer training classes to a record-setting seven classes running concurrently. There are four engineer classes set to graduate in 2019.