A bus brigade is arriving to help shepherd New Jerseyans to their jobs in New York.

By as early as Monday, the U.S. Department of Transportation will bring in buses to take commuters to Lower Manhattan through the Holland Tunnel or connect them to ferries.

"The federal government is marshaling about 200 buses that we’ll be able to use for special service to get people basically into Lower Manhattan, because that’s the part of the PATH system that’s going to be out for a while," said Jim Weinstein, executive director of NJ Transit.

The plan is still being finalized, but Weinstein said the buses could run from the Meadowlands sports complex, Liberty State Park and other places where emergency park-and-ride operations will be set up.

Initially, it was thought NJ Transit might need extra rail cars to replace ones destroyed by the hurricane, but an inspection revealed the damage was not as extensive as feared.

The emergency buses were deemed more useful to supplement PATH service to Lower Manhattan, suspended because of flooding, as well as service from rail lines pummeled by the hurricane, such as the Morris and Essex Line and North Jersey Coast Line.

"We have responded to requests for buses that can deliver people while the infrastructure is being inspected," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, in New Jersey today to inspect the harrowing damage caused by Hurricane Sandy, then later joined at Newark Penn Station by U.S. Sens. Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez (both D-N.J.).

About 60 percent of NJ Transit’s rail service should be ready for the Monday morning commute, Weinstein said.

NJ Transit and Amtrak restored Northeast Corridor Line service today to New York, and about 80 percent of NJ Transit’s buses resumed Thursday with at least partial service.

PATH service to Midtown Manhattan also is likely to be ready for Monday, but PATH service to flooded Lower Manhattan will take considerably longer.

Hudson-Bergen Light Rail service from Bayonne to Hoboken is expected to be available Monday, and the Newark City Subway on the Newark light rail system is expected to be in full service by the middle of next week, Weinstein said.

A portion of the North Jersey Coast Line, from Woodbridge north, is expected to be ready Monday, as well as service on the Raritan Valley Line between Raritan and Newark Penn Station.

Bergen County train lines, which rely on Hoboken Terminal, aren’t expected to have full service until Nov. 9.

"The challenge to us, the direction to us, is get (the transportation system) up and working again, make it so that people can resume their normal lives, can get back to work," Weinstein said. "That’s what the focus is — a return to normalcy — and we need to be nimble to be able to do that."

Still, he didn’t expect full train service for four or five weeks.

LaHood asked for patience.

"We have to have trains that are safe and we have to have trains that travel on equipment that is safe," he said. "This equipment, this infrastructure, needs to be inspected. In some instances, it needs to be repaired. Be patient. We are doing all that we can to make sure that people can be delivered to work on Monday in this region."

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