May 1, 2008

Near Railroad Accident Occurs When Train Doors Malfunction

After yet another malfunction on the New Jersey Transit system where a door opened while the train was moving and passengers were inches away from falling to the tracks below, a rail industry consultant wondered out loud whether New Jersey Transit might be cutting corners on safety and maintenance in its attempt to keep up with record demand.

Several passengers were frightened when the doors opened while the train was moving along the tracks, and Lauren Papapietra, a 21 year-old senior at Monmouth University who works at a public relations firm in Manhattan described the near train accident, “I was scared to death. I kind of trust New Jersey Transit to get me back and forth, and I really hope this doesn’t happen again.” While riders are routinely advised not to stand between cars they sometimes feel the need to do so during rush hour where there is standing room only.

Patrick Reilly, chairman of the United Transportation Union, local 60, which represents the New Jersey Transit’s conductors indicated that the railroad is more interested in keeping ‘on time’ schedules, not safety, and that cars needing maintenance are being put into service instead of staying in the yard and being fixed.

The Federal Railroad Administration does not request information from commuter railroads on reports of doors opening while the train is in motion. Further, the American Public Transportation Association, an industry group who keeps statistics of railroad accident incidents also does not request reports of doors opening.

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March 26, 2008

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.”

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