(The Newark Star-Ledger posted the following article by Joe Malinconico to its website on August 1.)
NEWARK, N.J. — NJ Transit officials yesterday revised their explanation for the July 14 derailment in Secaucus, saying the train’s wheel apparently overheated and fell off because of an electrical surge and not because it was struck by debris on the tracks.
The agency became aware of the more far-reaching problem on the Arrow III rail cars, the type that was involved in the derailment, after a wheel on another train overheated last Friday night. That prompted emergency inspections of all 230 Arrow III cars last weekend.
Eventually, NJ Transit removed 91 cars from service for repairs and discovered problems with equipment designed to prevent power surges from overheating the wheels. Mechanics later found evidence that a similar problem probably occurred on the derailed train, Executive Director George Warrington said.
As a result, the agency is putting all 230 of its Arrow III cars through a second round of emergency inspections this weekend and has changed the way it routinely checks and cleans the machinery designed to prevent the power surges.
“While we believe that there is a high degree of probability that this is the root cause of the bearing’s failure on the derailed train, we will await results from our continuing investigation and metallurgy studies before drawing a final conclusion,” Warrington said during NJ Transit’s monthly board meeting yesterday.
In the aftermath of the derailment, in which none of the 1,200 passengers was seriously injured, Warrington also said the agency would increase the size of some of its train crews. Instead of assigning at least one conductor for every four passenger cars, NJ Transit would operate with at least one conductor for every three cars. No timetable was given.
The derailed train had only two crew members because one was late for work that day, officials said. Under the new policy, it would have had four conductors.
Officials also promised various improvements in the way the agency handles emergencies and communicates with passengers during breakdowns. Angry passengers have flooded NJ Transit with complaints about the flow of information during the repeated service disruptions in July.
“I think everyone will welcome that,” said Leonard Resto, president of the New Jersey Association of Railroad Passengers. “People understand that things happen, but the communications really fell apart.”
Warrington said NJ Transit would:
Send the nearest train to the scene of an incident to rescue stranded passengers. This will take effect immediately, he said.
Give all train crew members radios within 90 days. Previously, only one employee on each train had a radio.
Equip all ticket offices with pagers within 30 days to provide workers with the latest information about service problems.
Create emergency response teams within 90 days to go to incident scenes and main terminals during a crisis.
Review the system’s public address systems within 45 days to determine if they need repair or replacement.
Supply all trains and stations with bullhorns in case public address systems fail. No timetable was offered.
The failings of the agency’s emergency response policies became apparent during the derailment and Tuesday night’s service shutdown along the Northeast Corridor, which occurred when an Amtrak train ripped down an overhead power line.
“The corporation is not here to make excuses, our job here is to find solutions,” said state Transportation Commissioner Jack Lettiere, who is also NJ Transit’s chairman. “We’re not good if we say we’re good. We’re good as a corporation if our customers say we’re good.”
That may take some time.
“They’re clueless what to do when there’s a problem,” said Barry Seiden of Highland Park, who was among the commuters stuck in Tuesday night’s mess. “You would think after 9/11, they would have emergency plans in place. But it’s clear they don’t have a plan.”
“I have a bitter taste from Tuesday night,” said Joe McDonald of South Brunswick, whose trip home took about four hours. “I’m glad to hear they want to make improvements, but I’m from Missouri on this one. Show me some results.”