One Killed and Over 100 Injured as New Jersey Train Crashes Into Station

A rush hour commuter train killed one person and injured more than 100. It crashed into a station in New Jersey on Thursday morning.

Emergency workers tore through debris of dangling wires and twisted metal to reach the injured. Passengers kicked out windows and crawled to safety as people pulled pieces of concrete off trapped and wounded victims.

The train charged through the end of the track at Hoboken terminal at around 8:45 a.m. It also knocked out pillars, therefore bringing down a section of the roof.

Debris from the crash hit and killed one person on the platform and hurt 108 people, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said.

Officials at two hospitals said that some of the injured were in critical condition. More than a few passengers were initially trapped but were later freed.

The train’s engineer was assisting fully with investigators while being treated for serious injuries in a hospital, Christie added.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo told a news conference that there are no indications that the incident was anything other than a “tragic accident”. Nevertheless, they will allow  authorities pursue the facts.

Cuomo said that it was uncertain why the train had come into the station too fast. It could be technical failure or human error that caused the accident. Further, he added that it was still premature to determine whether an anti-collision system known as positive train control could have averted the crash.

Positive train control relies on GPS and radio signals to monitor trains’ position and speed. Presently, none of NJ Transit’s trains come fully equipped with the safety system.

Installation delayed by regulators

Regulators repeatedly delayed the target date for the installation of the anti-collision system. They now scheduled for the end of 2018, at railroads’ request. The industry is under government orders to install it, and the NTSB has been pushing for some version of the technology for at least 40 years.

A similar incident happened in May 2011, when a Port Authority of New York and New Jersey train crashed at Hoboken station. That event produced more than 30 injuries when the train hit a bumping post at the end of the track. An NTSB investigation found that excessive speed was the main cause of the accident.

The agency would study the similarities between that one and Thursday’s crash, an NTSB official said.

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