New Jersey’s Port Authority Transit Corporation (PATCO) officially opened its new Operations Control Center in Lindenwold, marking a major investment in the future of PATCO’s operations, safety, and reliability.

The new center serves as the central hub for monitoring and managing PATCO train operations, communications, customer service coordination, incident response, and overall operational oversight across the transit system.

PATCO leadership, employees, and guests gathered on Thursday for a ribbon-cutting ceremony and facility tour at the Lindenwold Maintenance Facility complex.

“In many ways, this facility is the nerve center of the PATCO system,” said PATCO GM John Rink. “Every train movement, communication, and operational decision runs through this building. This investment strengthens our ability to deliver safe, reliable, and efficient service for our riders every day, while giving our operations team the modern tools and technology needed to keep PATCO trains moving safely and smoothly.”

PATCO’s New Facility

The approximately $19.4 million project replaces PATCO’s original Center Tower operations facility, which dates to the system’s 1969 opening.

Advances in communications and fiber-optic technology now allow PATCO operations to be centralized at the Lindenwold facility, enhancing operational flexibility and long-term reliability, said officials.

Construction on the facility began in 2023, and the project was honored with a New Jersey Leading Capital Construction Project Award from the New Jersey Alliance for Action in 2024.

The new facility includes:

• A modern operations control room for dispatching and rail operations oversight.
• Improved communications and monitoring systems.
• Redundant systems to support operational resiliency and service continuity.
• Dedicated space for customer service and operational support staff.
• Consolidated workspace for multiple PATCO transit departments, bringing operations personnel, traffic analysts, train schedulers, and support staff together in one centralized location to improve coordination and communication across departments and operational areas.

The center also includes a dedicated secure high-bandwidth operational network and integration with PATCO’s systemwide radio, video surveillance, access control, public address, centralized traffic control (CTC), and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems.

PATCO’s original Center Tower facility in Camden will remain in place as a secondary operations center.

PATCO’s New Control Center

PATCO officials said the new control center was designed to support its ongoing modernization efforts and future system enhancements, while improving coordination among operations, maintenance, customer service, and response personnel.

DRPA’s current five-year capital program includes approximately $805 million in planned investments to modernize, maintain, and enhance its bridges, transit system, and transportation assets.

“This facility works behind the scenes, but riders will experience the benefits every day through safer, more reliable, and more efficient service,” Rink said.