Investigators question engineer about N.J. train crash

HOBOKEN, N.J.— Federal investigators trying to figure out the cause of the deadly rail crash at the Hoboken station questioned the engineer Friday and hoped to lift clues from the train’s black box recorders, although one of the devices was proving difficult to extract from the mangled wreckage.

Thomas Gallagher answered investigators’ questions and was co-operative, according to a government official who was not authorized to discuss the case and spoke on condition of anonymity. The official would not disclose what Gallagher said.

The official said Gallagher’s blood and urine were sent for testing — standard procedure after an accident — but the results were not yet available.

Gallagher’s NJ Transit commuter train crashed through a steel-andconcrete bumper and hurtled into the waiting area at the Hoboken terminal Thursday morning, killing a woman on the platform and injuring more than 100 other people.

Gallagher, 48, a N.J. Transit engineer for about 18 years, was pulled from the wreckage, treated at hospital and released.

“The one thing we know for sure is that the train came into the station too fast. Why that is, we don’t know,” New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said.

National Transportation Safety Board investigators were examining the event recorder taken from the locomotive at the rear of the train. The event recorder contains speed and braking information.