A New Jersey senator said Thursday that his state must address its failure to make progress on technology to stop out-of-control trains in their tracks in the wake of a deadly train crash in Hoboken.
Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., said in a Thursday CNN interview he is a “huge advocate” of positive train control technology, which automatically slows trains down, but said a 2016 report given to the Federal Railroad Administration shows that New Jersey Transit has failed to implement the system.
“That’s in essence not having made any progress on positive train control,” he said. “That’s an issue that clearly has to be addressed.”
A Thursday morning commuter train crashed at a high speed into a Hoboken train station, killing at least 1 and injuring 74 others. One witness said the train’s engineer, who survived and will be questioned about the incident, was slumped over in his seat at the front of the train. Reportedly the locomotive never stopped and jumped over an emergency barrier. The train was not equipped with positive train control.
Menendez also expressed concern that there are no cameras that can allow people to see the train engineer inside the cabin. He said those two changes and others need to be implemented in his state.
“I believe that safety is job one. And anything that promotes the ability to promote that safety and to understand the consequences of the crash when it takes place so it doesn’t happen again,” said Mendendez. “Whether it be positive train control, you know, auxiliary opportunities to have another engineer in the cabin or the ability to review the operation of that engineer, is critically important.”
