(The following story by George Berkin of Newhouse News Service appeared in the New Jersey Journal on May 1.)
HOBOKEN, N.J. — An NJ Transit employee was seriously injured Tuesday when he fell from the back of a moving train in the Bergen Tunnel in Hoboken, transit officials said.
Raul Ramirez, 52, a five-year NJ Transit employee, fell from a westbound train about 5:45 p.m., said spokesman Ken Hitchner. Ramirez sustained internal and head injuries and was taken to Jersey City Medical Center, where he was in fair condition yesterday, said hospital spokeswoman Sally Deering.
Thousands of riders were delayed during Tuesday’s evening rush hour as trains were stopped between the Hoboken and the Newark Broad Street stations while emergency personnel tended to Ramirez, officials said.
Trains on the Morris & Essex Line in Hudson County were stopped for an hour, and delays continued throughout the evening as service slowly resumed, Hitchner said. Both east- and westbound trains were affected.
Hitchner said Ramirez fell as his train was about a mile west of the Hoboken station en route to Summit. The tunnel is located on the border of Hoboken and Jersey City and the next stop was the Broad Street Station in Newark.
One crew member who had seen Ramirez go to the back of the train realized he was missing and alerted the engineer who stopped the train to investigate, Hitchner said. Ramirez was spotted on the tracks by an engineer of an eastbound train, the transit spokesman said.
It was not known why Ramirez fell.