(The Trenton Times posted the following article by T.A. Parmalee on its website on July 16.)
TRENTON, N.J. — The state is investigating whether NJ Transit may have ignored safety warnings prior to Monday’s two-car train derailment between Trenton and New York that left two dozen passengers injured and many more shaken up.
The probe also will include the way NJ Transit responded to the accident and handled the injured after one of the train’s wheels came loose and two cars slid off the track, officials said yesterday.
The derailment did not overturn the train.
State Transportation Commissioner Jack Lettiere said investigators will check to see if protocol was followed after a sensor went off, indicating one of the wheels was overheating.
The wheel that later fell off came from the same area, he said.
The car that lost the wheel had been overhauled last fall and passed an inspection this month, Lettiere said.
“There is something called a hotbox detector that is placed along the railroad’s right-of-way to sense excessive heat from the rail-car wheels,” said Ken Miller, an NJ Transit spokesman.
“A hotbox detector did go off in Edison, and they stopped the train.”
An initial test indicated the wheels were operating properly, and the train continued east, he said.
Miller said NJ Transit’s response to the crash also is being investigated.
“I can tell you that there were medical personnel available at the scene where the incident occurred and an emergency service response in New York as well. In terms of the timing of that, that is part of the investigation,” Miller said.
Bill Wright, a spokesman for the New Jersey Association of Railroad Passengers, a rail advocacy group, said three crew members should have been sufficient.
The train made only three stops between Trenton and New York and did not need anyone else to punch tickets, he said.
Warren Flatau, a spokesman for the Federal Railroad Administration, said that agency also would conduct a “comprehensive investigation” of the train derailment that could take several months.
Eleven people were transported from the crash site to three Hudson County hospitals, all with minor injuries, Miller said.
The degree to which larger crews could have enhanced safety is among the issues NJ Transit Executive Director George Warrington will address at a news conference at the railroad’s Newark headquarters at 11 a.m. today, Lettiere said.
The 8 a.m. derailment in Secaucus snarled Monday’s morning and evening rush hours and forced the cancellation of five Northeast Corridor trains yesterday morning, plus two North Jersey Coast Line trains.
Amtrak trains, which also use Northeast Corridor tracks, were delayed as well.
Regular service on NJ Transit’s Northeast Corridor and North Jersey Coast lines resumed at noon yesterday, and Midtown Direct service into Manhattan was to resume for this morning’s rush, Miller said.
Commuters today can expect regular service during the morning rush hour and throughout the day, Miller said.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)