It's not just the MTA.

New Jersey Transit and Amtrak say they're in dire need of more funding.

Today, Congressman Frank Pallone announced $112 million in federal money to help both agencies make overdue upgrades focused on the heavily traveled Northeast Corridor.

Among other things, the money will renovate the signal system between New Brunswick and Elizabeth and modernize a 23 mile stretch of catenary lines in North Jersey.

Now, those are frequently cited as the cause of breakdowns and delays for commuters who endured a so-called summer of hell this year filled with service disruptions and cancellations.

That was the topic of conversation at a statehouse hearing in Trenton today, where lawmakers grilled leaders of new Jersey Transit and Amtrak as they try to prioritize the biggest issues to tackle first.

Senior correspondent Brenda Flanagan reports.

We just had another summer of hell on New Jersey Transit.

And despite all that money, the rider experience continues to be deplorable.

Just ask my constituents.

Lawmakers, call the CEOs of Amtrak and NJ transit on the carpet, asking them to explain the recent summer of hell that left thousands of rail riders stranded by hundreds of canceled trains and infrastructure failures, despite recent funding increases.

Amtrak Stephen Gardner apologized.

These types of events absolutely cripple the rush hour and crippled people's commutes, and we're deeply sorry for those that are impacted.

The transit chiefs pointed to their collaboration on recent repairs to fix immediate deficiencies.

They've hired an outside firm to investigate precise failure points.

Rail commuters have endured fewer fiascos, but NJ transit still striving to hit its optimum goal of 94.7% On-time performance CEO Kevin Corbett told the Assembly Transportation Committee.

NJ Transit overall, On-time performance has also improved from 83.2% in June, up to over 91% in both September and October.

Both again blamed breakdowns on decades of government neglect, and a chronic lack of funding required to upgrade antiquated tracks, signal and power systems.

NJ transit faced a fiscal cliff, remedied only after it imposed a 15% fare increase this summer, and New Jersey lawmakers approved a corporate transit tax that will direct millions into the agency's coffers.

Bergen Republican Chris Phillips challenged Corbett.

Don't you agree that it is time for a top to bottom audit of New Jersey Transit?

And don't you agree that it is time for a complete overhaul of the management team in New Jersey Transit?

And respectfully, that includes you.

No, I don't.

You have no explanation.

Yeah, that's I mean, obviously that's, I understand your position.

I think as I mentioned, we're totally, believe in being transparent.

Corbett explained he'd inherited, quote, a mess and that the agency's working hard to improve.

NJ transit recently hired a new customer advocate, but delayed communications remain a sore point given the service disruptions that are happened and the frustration of passengers.

How does NJ transit communicate to passengers when there is a problem?

Somewhere along the corridor you want to get home?

Ten minutes is, you know, the Twitter world explodes.

So we really are been working a lot to how do we can get that communication quicker out to people.

Meanwhile, members of New Jersey's congressional delegation have pledged to deliver more federal funding, but advocates say the five year corporate transit tax isn't enough to save NJ Transit.

The job is still not done.

Because of that, those dollars need to be dedicated, and it also needs to be more than just a five year program.

Jersey's League of Conservation Voters also urged lawmakers to make the tax permanent, adding new Jersey stands at the nexus of the regional economy and it's essential we get reliable, affordable public transit right for our economy, our mobility and our environment.

The committee agreed to work with both transit agencies to procure more funding to help avoid another summer of hell, but lawmakers say they want more accountability from NJ transit on how that money is spent at the statehouse in Trenton.

I'm Brenda Flanagan, NJ Spotlight News.