Train had safety violations before crash, agency found
HOBOKEN, N.J. — Federal rail officials found dozens of violations during an audit focusing on New Jersey Transit’s safety and operations, months before a commuter train crashed, killing a woman and injuring more than 100 others, a U.S. official told the Associated Press on Saturday.
The official, who was familiar with an audit by the Federal Railroad Administration, spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.
The railroad administration began an audit in June after noticing an increase in rail incidents and found “dozens of safety violations” that needed to be fixed immediately, the official said. The commuter rail agency was fined as a result of the audit, the official said, adding that federal agencies are continuing to work with the railroad to ensure compliance with federal rail safety guidelines.
New Jersey Transit trains have been involved in more than 150 accidents that caused more than $4.8 million in damage to tracks or equipment since Jan. 1, 2011, according to federal data. There were 25 such accidents in 2015 and 10 in the first seven months of 2016, but none caused injuries or death. Most of the incidents occurred at low speeds and more than half were in train yards.
The commuter rail has paid more than $500,000 to settle 183 safety violations — ranging from employee drug and alcohol use to violations of railroad operating rules or practices — since 2011, according to data from the Federal Railroad Administration. The settlement payments include about $70,000 for more than a dozen safety violations in 2014 and 2015.
On Thursday, a New Jersey Transit commuter train smashed through a steel-and-concrete bumper and hurtled into the station’s waiting area, killing a woman on the platform and injuring more than 100 other people.
The train’s engineer, Thomas Gallagher, who was among those injured in the crash, has been interviewed by the National Transportation Safety Board, officials said Saturday.
The NTSB retrieved an event recorder from the locomotive at the rear of the train and investigators are waiting to download speed and braking information. Investigators haven’t been able to extract a second recorder in the train’s mangled first car because it is under a collapsed section of the train station’s roof.