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NJ TRANSIT Rail Riders Not Happy, Survey Finds

NEWARK, NJ (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Customers on NJ TRANSIT trains are not happy commuters.

The agency's second customer satisfaction survey shows rail passengers giving an overall grade of 4.2 out of 10. That's down from 4.5 in April.

The survey was conducted in August when a derailment outside New York Penn Station delayed riders.

Handling service disruptions was the biggest gripe.

1010 WINS' Steve Sandberg with disappointed riders

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1010 WINS' Steve Sandberg spoke with some riders who had nothing nice to say about NJ TRANSIT.

"It's constantly late, it's always signal problems," one woman said. "They don't come on the intercom and tell us what's going on."

"Most of all the employees are the nastiest ever created on God's green Earth," another woman said.

NJT Executive Director Jim Weinstein says, "We hear what you're saying, we're listening, and we're doing our damnedest to fix what's broken."

Earlier this week, there were several service disruptions of NJ TRANSIT trains.

On Monday, the Northeast Corridor, North Jersey Coast Line and Raritan Valley Line trains were delayed up to 30 minutes into and out of Newark Penn Station because of Amtrak signal and switch problems.

Then on Tuesday, Midtown Direct trains were either delayed or cancelled at the start of the evening commute because of Amtrak power problems in Kearny.

NJ TRANSIT officials are working on ways to get information to train crews so they can pass it on to passengers during delays.

Bus riders gave a score of 5.6, up one-tenth of one percentage point.

Some 68 of those surveyed said they would recommend NJ TRANSIT to a friend or relative.

Do you commute on NJ TRANSIT? What do you think of its service? Sound off below in our comments section...

(TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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