The executive director of New Jersey Transit, Steven Santoro, told state lawmakers last week that about 7,400 passengers would be diverted to Hoboken.

Mr. Santoro said the railroad would reduce fares for those diverted passengers by more than 50 percent to compensate for their more complicated commutes, which he said would be 30 to 45 minutes longer in each direction.

New Jersey Transit also said that trains on its Coast Line that normally go to Hoboken Terminal in the morning will instead end their runs at Newark’s Pennsylvania Station. Passengers bound for Manhattan would have to transfer there to other trains or the PATH system.

At a recent hearing in Newark, lawmakers questioned the decision to place most of the burden on the riders of just one line in New Jersey Transit’s statewide network — the Morris and Essex is the railroad’s second-busiest line. They pressed Mr. Santoro to explain what role Gov. Chris Christie played in the decision and whether the governor was exacting some sort of retribution against particular districts or elected representatives.

Mr. Santoro said the solution had been devised by planners at the railroad and recommended to Mr. Christie. He said the governor endorsed the decision but ordered the railroad to give the affected riders bigger discounts than it had planned. Mr. Santoro repeatedly declined to say how much of a discount New Jersey Transit had intended to offer.

The best news for commuters out of the hearing was that the operator of the PATH trains, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, is planning to add enough trains between Hoboken and Herald Square in Manhattan to accommodate the diverted passengers.

Michael Marino, the general manager of the PATH system, said that it would increase its capacity by more than 9,000 passengers during the morning rush hours by running its trains closer together.