TRAIN UNCOUPLES - STUNNING RIDERS
According to the New York Times, an eight-car East-bound train uncoupled, stunning riders, during evening rush hour earlier this month. The incident, confirmed by Dan Stessel, a spokesman for the New Jersey Transit was confirmed as having happened on February 22nd, and has drawn criticism from the conductor’s union. There were more than 600 shaken passengers on the train at the time of the uncoupling, and it took an hour for workers to reattach the cars. According to the Times, the train was moving approximately five miles an hour when steel couplers which connected the second and third cars separated, leaving them several feet from one another and a potential new york train accident risk. The brakes were immediately activated, and no injuries were reported.
Couplers resemble two hands palm to palm and it appears a piece of debris hit those coupled hands with enough force to cause them to separate, although the actual debris was not identified.
The New Jersey Transit authorities instructed the crew to divert all passengers to the next stop-Newark Liberty International Airport.
According to Patrick F. Reilly, the general chairman of the United Transportation Union, which represents the 1,100 conductors who work for New Jersey Transit, the decision to restart the train with passengers still aboard, was a bad one. Reilly commented that all passengers should have immediately been removed from the train and the train taken out-of-service. Passenger Rick Smith, a 37-year-old graphics designer said, “We were just praying that we got to the next stop in one piece, without the train coming apart again.”
Dan Stessel, a spokesman for the New Jersey Transit indicated that the train was traveling at a very low speed and that having cars separate, causing an NY Train Accident is a ‘very rare occurrence’.
According to a story published in the New York Times this February, a Rutgers’ University report said public transportation is an efficient use of funds. The New Jersey Transit received $702.5 million in direct state support in fiscal 2005, equal to about $2.88 a trip, or less than the price of a gallon of gas, for each light rail, train or bus passenger a year.
New Jersey was behind only New York in mass transportation use, and residents in New York and Maryland had longer commutes than those in New Jersey, the study said.
If you or a loved one has been injured in a New York subway train accident, call the offices of Wingate, Russotti & Shapiro, LLP today for a free consultation.
