Crime & Safety
NJ Transit Train May Have Been Speeding During Fatal Hoboken Crash: Report
An unnamed "U.S. official" stated that the train may have been going up to 20 miles over the limit, a report says.
HOBOKEN, NJ — A NJ Transit train that crashed into Hoboken Terminal last week – killing a woman and injuring more than 100 others – may have been traveling between 20 and 30 miles per hour when it collided with the station, a report says.
On Tuesday, an unnamed “U.S. official” speaking on condition of anonymity told the Associated Press that the 20 to 30 mph estimate was based on the extent of the damage, not on data from the train's instruments.
The speed limit at the station is 10 miles per hour, the official said.
Find out what's happening in Hobokenfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
- See related article: Hoboken NJ Train Crash: Victim Identified, More Than 100 Injured
Earlier this week, officials announced that they had run into problems that could impede the investigation into the fatal crash.
The engineer of the New Jersey train that crashed in Hoboken on Thursday, killing one and injuring 108 others, told investigators that he has "no memory" of the crash and that he felt "fully rested," according to Bella Dinh-Zarr, vice-chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board.
Find out what's happening in Hobokenfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
"He remembers waking up on the floor of the cab," she said.
Also, the event recorder, the so-called "black box" which was built in 1995, was not working - possibly because "that's quite an old event recorder." NTSB officials are working to recover a second recorder that likely remains inside the wreckage at the now-closed train station, according to Dinh-Zahr.
"We want to get in and get the exact speed of the train," said Dinh-Zahr. "We're unable to do that - unfortunately, one of the event recorders was not working."
- See related article: Train Engineer Has 'No Memory' Of Hoboken Crash As Other Problems Arise In Probe: NTSB
The crash killed Fabiola Bittar de Kroon, 34, of Hoboken, a young mother who worked as a corporate lawyer for the SAP software company. She was killed after being hit by debris on the Hoboken platform while the crash's impact caused the terminal's roof to collapse, sending flying metal airborne, officials said.
- See related article: Tears For Young Mother Killed In Hoboken Train Crash As Probe Continues
Photo: John Tachine
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