Train service set to resume after deadly New Jersey crash

NEWARK, N.J. — Rail service at a New Jersey transit station damaged after a train crash last week that killed a woman on the platform and injured more than 100 will resume next week as officials continue to investigate why the train was traveling twice the speed limit before it hit the station.

Eight of the 17 tracks at Hoboken Terminal will reopen Monday at the busy station where commuters connect with other trains and with f e r r i e s he adi ng i nt o New York City, New Jersey Transit announced Friday.

With the resumption of service, a new rule will require that the conductor join the engineer whenever a train pulls into the terminal, NJ Transit spokeswoman Jennifer Nelson said. That means a second set of eyes will be watching as a train enters the final phase of its trip at stations where there are platforms at the end of the rails. In the Sept. 29 crash, the engineer was alone.

Some rail safet y experts caution that having a second person in a cab isn’t automatically safer because crew members can sometimes distract each other.

It took investigators until Tuesday to make the New Jer- sey crash site safe enough to be able to remove an event recorder from the lead car.

According to the National Transportation Safety Board, the train sped up and was going twice the 10 mph speed limit just before it slammed into a bumping post, went airborne and hurtled into the station. The train was traveling at 8 mph and the throttle was in the idle position less than a minute before the crash. About 38 seconds before the crash, the throttle was increased and reached a maximum of about 21 mph, the NTSB said. The throttle went to idle and the engineer hit the emergency brake less than a second before the crash.