13 replies to this topic

[CNJRoss]

NJ.com, 9/29:
 

Why did transportation experts warn of a crash at NJ Transit? | Editorial

 

Everything written about NJ Transit in the foreseeable future is likely to be viewed in the context of the Hoboken tragedy, so we start with this disclaimer: No one knows what caused the crash, and we trust the Legislature will do the right thing by investigating it thoroughly.

 

But the investigation must begin with this immutable truth: NJ Transit is missing 21 percent of its budget – shelved during that political pie fight known as the Transportation Trust Fund negotiation – and independent rail experts have been issuing warnings for months that this shortfall increases the risk of an accident and puts passengers in peril.

 

Amid these warnings, NJ Transit had cancelled every public board meeting since June 8.

Earlier this week, Martin Robins of the Voorhees Transportation Center at Rutgers – the éminence grise for transit matters in our state – said that he was startled that 222 NJ Transit projects remain on the shelf, suspended by Gov. Christie back in June.

 

SNIP

 

That's not to suggest that NJ Transit is as horrid as the PA. But the public should not have to tolerate Christie's infamous radio silence, and every agency in his purview should be obligated to show it serves a broader interest rather than a constituency of one. Denying public access is the wrong way to do that, and now a tragedy demands public accountability.

 

More here.

[CNJRoss]

NJ.com, 10/9:
 

A moment of reckoning for N.J. Transit and Gov. Christie | Editorial

 

The Hoboken tragedy would have been prevented by a technology that New Jersey Transit has not installed, and is showing no urgency to install.

 

These facts are no longer in dispute since the NTSB provided the details: Just 38 seconds before it reached the terminal, the Pascack Valley 1614 accelerated from 8 mph to 21 mph – pushed to half-throttle for reasons unknown – before it smashed into the bumper block.

 

We also know that the driver never would have been able to accelerate had NJ Transit installed Positive Train Control, the speed control technology that overrides human operators.

 

So it is time for the nation's third-largest railroad to enter the 21^st century, and as it embarks on this journey, its administration – notably the governor who appoints its board and executive staff – needs to explain how we got here.

 

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[CNJRoss]

NJ.com, 10/20:
 

NJ Transit, it's time to testify | Editorial

 

New Jersey Transit has finally earned Trenton's attention, and starting Friday, it will have to account for its troubling lack of transparency, its grim safety record, and how it manages to keep the lights on while it's in a perpetual state of austerity.

 

A joint legislative committee will invite NJ Transit administrators to hearings that are likely to be illuminating for this reason: Everyone already assumes that the Hoboken accident wasn't so much an aberration as it was an ugly foreboding, a tragic consequence from years of mismanagement and neglect.

 

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[CNJRoss]

Progressive Railroading,10/21:

Lawmakers seek closer look into NJ Transit's safety, funding

An aerial view of the Hoboken crash site. Photo – National Transportation Safety Board

A growing number of lawmakers are calling for more federal and state examinations of the safety record of New Jersey Transit, following the Sept. 29 train crash in Hoboken that killed one person and injured 100 others.

Yesterday, New Jersey state lawmakers voted to grant themselves subpoena power as they begin to look into the crash. And on Wednesday, U.S. Sens. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) in a letter called on U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx to investigate safety concerns as well as funding at the commuter railroad.

SNIP

Menendez and Booker specifically urged Foxx to determine "whether a lack of funding impaired the ability of the agency to address safety needs,” the letter stated.

 

More here.

[CNJRoss]

The New York Times, 10/21:
 

N.J. Transit Chief a No-Show at a Legislative Hearing on Safety

 

TRENTON -- New Jersey Transit’s new executive director was a no-show on Friday when it came time to face state lawmakers here and explain the agency’s worsening safety record.

 

In the wake of two fatal crashes in the transportation system since August, two legislative committees convened the first of a series of hearings into its operations.  But the first witness they had called to speak — the agency’s executive director, Steven Santoro — abruptly canceled his scheduled appearance, a move that angered the lawmakers.

 

“It’s unacceptable to have anything other than a first-rate transit service as we had before several years ago," said State Assemblyman John F. McKeon, a Democrat who leads the Judiciary Committee.  He also said it was “disrespectful to the committee” for Mr. Santoro not to show up.

 

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[KevinKorell]

The new Executive Director was appointed in the wake of the crash, so is it fair that he be held accountable for what led up to it? He stepped into a crisis, and knew what he was stepping into, but whatever he reports would for now be third hand.

[CNJRoss]

The new Executive Director was appointed in the wake of the crash, so is it fair that he be held accountable for what led up to it? He stepped into a crisis, and knew what he was stepping into, but whatever he reports would for now be third hand.

 

"Bad form" to not appear!  NJT should have been in touch with the FRA and committee to work out the conflict.  The new ED could have provided an overview of what he's learned and what's been and is being done to correct the issues.  A hearing is not only about finding accountability.

 

My 2 cents

Ross

[CNJRoss]

AP via ABC News 10/20:
 

Growing Calls for Railroad Probe in Wake of Station Crash

 

New Jersey's commuter railroad is facing growing calls for more scrutiny at federal and state levels amid questions about its safety after one of its trains crashed into a station last month, killing a woman on the platform and injuring more than 100.

New Jersey lawmakers on Thursday voted to grant themselves subpoena power as they begin to look into the Sept. 29 crash at Hoboken Terminal.

 

And U.S. Sens. Bob Menendez and Cory Booker, both of New Jersey, on Wednesday asked federal officials to investigate safety and funding issues within NJ Transit, including a finding by The Associated Press that NJ Transit had a significantly higher accident rate over the last five years than the rest of the nation's 10 largest commuter railroads.

 

More here.

[CNJRoss]

AP via ABC News, 10/21:
 

Senior NJ Transit Leaders Skip Hearing on Deadly Train Crash

 

New Jersey Transit's top officials skipped a state oversight hearing Friday to meet with federal regulators, upsetting lawmakers eager to question them about their agency's poor safety record and slow deployment of sophisticated technology that could have prevented a deadly crash last month.

 

Legislators saw the absence, communicated to them in a text message Thursday night, as a sign of disrespect and a signal the state-owned NJ Transit wasn't sincere about improving its beleaguered commuter rail operation. Democratic Assemblyman John McKeon threatened to issue subpoenas if the officials don't testify at a hearing next month. An NJ Transit spokeswoman said later that they would.

 

Federal regulators said NJ Transit's new executive director, Steve Santoro, and other key leaders could have avoided the drama simply by asking to move the meeting.  .  .  .

 

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[CNJRoss]

Phys.org, 10/21:
 

New Jersey Transit's longest delay: Modern safety technology

 

Six years after New Jersey Transit won federal approval to install modern safety technology on its commuter rail lines, the project has languished and trains still operate with speed controls developed in the 1950s.

 

The technological divide was underscored last month when a packed NJ Transit train sped to double the 10 mph speed limit and hurtled into Hoboken Terminal, killing a woman on the platform and injuring more than 100 other people.

Instead of a sophisticated on-board computer regulating train speeds into the station, NJ Transit relies on an antiquated in-cab signaling system that's designed to alert engineers and stop trains only when they go faster than 20 mph.

Even at Hoboken Terminal—where NJ Transit had an exception from positive-train control requirements—experts say an on-board computer tied to the PTC system still would have worked to keep the train within the speed limit.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news...safety.html#jCp

Six years after New Jersey Transit won federal approval to install modern safety technology on its commuter rail lines, the project has languished and trains still operate with speed controls developed in the 1950s.

 

The technological divide was underscored last month when a packed NJ Transit train sped to double the 10 mph speed limit and hurtled into Hoboken Terminal, killing a woman on the platform and injuring more than 100 other people.

Instead of a sophisticated on-board computer regulating train speeds into the station, NJ Transit relies on an antiquated in-cab signaling system that's designed to alert engineers and stop trains only when they go faster than 20 mph.

Even at Hoboken Terminal—where NJ Transit had an exception from positive-train control requirements—experts say an on-board computer tied to the PTC system still would have worked to keep the train within the speed limit.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news...safety.html#jCp

Six years after New Jersey Transit won federal approval to install modern safety technology on its commuter rail lines, the project has languished and trains still operate with speed controls developed in the 1950s.

 

The technological divide was underscored last month when a packed NJ Transit train sped to double the 10 mph speed limit and hurtled into Hoboken Terminal, killing a woman on the platform and injuring more than 100 other people.

 

Instead of a sophisticated on-board computer regulating train speeds into the station, NJ Transit relies on an antiquated in-cab signaling system that's designed to alert engineers and stop trains only when they go faster than 20 mph.

 

Even at Hoboken Terminal—where NJ Transit had an exception from positive-train control requirements—experts say an on-board computer tied to the PTC system still would have worked to keep the train within the speed limit.

 

Continue here.