Engineer Gets Job Back After Fatal Hoboken Train Crash: Reports

HOBOKEN, NJ — The NJ Transit engineer who was on duty during a fatal train crash at Hoboken Terminal in 2016 will get his old job back… but with some conditions, reports say.

On Aug. 28, Thomas Gallagher won his appeal in a national railroad arbitration court, more than three years after the deadly crash that killed a 34-year-old Hoboken mother and injured 114 other NJ Transit riders.

Gallagher – who has blamed his role in the crash on untreated sleep apnea – was fired but appealed the decision. He will be allowed to return to his previous job as an engineer on a “one-time, last-chance basis” as long as he qualifies medically and continues sleep apnea treatment, NJ.com reported.

• See related article: Hoboken Train Crash Likely Caused By Sleep Apnea

“While NJ Transit opposed the reinstatement of Mr. Gallagher, we are required to comply with the legal decision made by the arbitrator,” a spokeswoman told NorthJersey.com. However, NJ Transit can and will restrict Gallagher to working on non-passenger trains, she added.

WHAT CAUSED THE CRASH?

In February 2018, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) ruled that NJ Transit failed to adequately screen and treat its engineers for sleep apnea, a chronic and ongoing condition that can cause excessive daytime sleepiness.

The condition isn’t rare among transportation workers, some experts say. Metro-North recently found that as many as 11.6 percent of its engineers in the New York City suburbs may suffer from the disorder, the Associated Press stated.

The absence of technology on the tracks to automatically stop the trains was also a factor in the crash, the NTSB stated. In addition, the train may have been going between 20 and 30 miles per hour when it collided with the station; the speed limit at the station is 10 miles per hour.

• See related article: NJ Transit Train May Have Been Speeding During Fatal Hoboken Crash

Federal inspectors also found several alleged safety violations at Hoboken Terminal just months before the crash, including failure to equip trains with required emergency equipment, crew members failing to perform required brake tests on trains, and trains stopping too close to each other.

• See related article: Inspectors Found Safety Issues Prior To Fatal Hoboken Train Crash

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