A New Jersey Transit train packed with hundreds of commuters sped through a restricted speed zone and crashed into a station in Hoboken this morning. The impact killed one person and injured more than 100 others. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating why the train that originated from New York's Rockland County didn't slow down before it crashed around 8:45 a.m.
Governor Cuomo canceled a trip to Israel for Shimon Peres' funeral and joined New Jersey Governor Chris Christie to tour the devastation and thank first responders, including some from New York City. The train was not equipped with a technology designed to slow speeding trains. Railroads are under government orders to install positive train control, but work has gone more slowly than expected.
What's your reaction to the fatal commuter train crash in Hoboken this morning? What questions do you want answered in the investigation? After similar crashes on Amtrak and Metro-North in recent years, do you welcome the installation of positive train control even if it means service shutdowns or higher fares and taxes? How would you grade Governor Cuomo's leadership today?
Natasha's Thoughts
There's still plenty we don't know about today's train crash in Hoboken, including whether a lack of Positive Train Control was an issue. It is a complicated issue for both riders and transit agencies as this potentially life-saving technology requires sacrifice, including service shutdowns and higher fares. I know many fellow PATH riders who are frustrated as they deal with a complete weekend shutdown to 33rd street during the installation process of this program. But hopefully, today's incident puts things in perspective for riders and officials on the value of this technology outweighing the cost of an inconvenient commute; I know it did for me.
Meanwhile, I think we can take heart in what did work in the aftermath of this horrific crash. Emergency responders were on the scene moments after the incident, information started going out soon after, saving potentially many other lives. This region is tried, tested and ready and time and time again, we take care of each other. Your thoughts below.
Viewer E-mails
Did not install mandated safety control? I see a big big lawsuit or three or four or more.
Roscoe
Park Hill
The train crash in the Hoboken, New Jersey station which killed 1 person and injured 108 others, some very seriously, should never have happened.How fast was that train going as it approached the terminal?Why wasn't there an automatic braking system that would have been enacted to slow down the speed and to bring the train to a stop? The engineer was also injured, and he will most certainly be questioned by the officials who are investigating this tragedy.Kudos to all the first responders -firefighters, police officers and EMT personnel who immediately converged at the crash site, especially to the EMS personnel who immediately transported the injured to 2 hospitals in Hoboken. Their fast action and those of the medical personnel in the emergency rooms of both hospitals were critical in saving many lives, and those doctors and nurses who are true and dedicated professionals are to also be commended for their skills and expertise in the process of tending to those injured people.It is time for Congress to enact railway legislation mandating that all trains be refurbished with backup automatic brake systems that can be used in the event that the regular brake system on a train fails to slow down and stop it.The nation's railway companies must immediately upgrade their trains ,so that accidents like the one in Hoboken will not occur again.Our thought and prayers go out to the families of the injured and of the one person who lost her life.
John
Fresh Meadows
Greed. avarice and depraved indifference to human life caused this. They have the technology to prevent such a catastrophic accident, but won't spend the money. Heads must roll and they'd better not try to squirm out of it.
Frances
EV
It seems like the deadline for installation has been pushed back about 10 times ..and Politicians make speeches after every NTSB investigation goes on for a year or so ..and the conclusion is always positive train control would have avoided ..the "Incident "...
But for some reason delays and road blocks and stall tactics by everyone and anyone involved in actually implementing the installation on the $&@%ing trains DOES NOT HAPPEN !
!?
Anyone else think Albany and Washington needs a giant flood to wash away every politician in one giant wave ...to wash away the cesspool of government elected officials.
Mark
Upper East Side
I was really upset when I first heard about this story thus morning, I have family and Facebook friends that live in NJ, I want them to be safe... I know that area where the crash happened, the trains always go slow, I saw video on another news channel where the same train was going fast, I know we're not supposed to speculate about what happened, if it was going that fast when it pulled into the station, it was human error..... Why didn't the train operator slow down??? was he fully aware or impaired???? Those are the questions that need to be answered.... I will still get on the commuter trains sand of course use the subway... The PTC should be installed in all the trains especially in the NYC subway cars, i'll tell you why... They're installing the CBTC operations throughout the entire system, the trains will run closer together... The MTA should think about the best way to prevent accidents from happening, the best way is to install the PTC system on all the train cars and to have cameras in every car where the train operator sits. They should install cameras in every train car also yo deter the criminals from doing bad things to other people..
Herman
Upper West Side
We are the highest taxed region in the nation so why wasn't that revenue spent to install positive train control back then? Perhaps it's time for a Congressional investigation to question Cuomo and Christi on this.
Sal #2
Flushing
i would like to know why train did not slow down, was engineer ill ? the other media need to stop talking to so called experts. ntsb said wait for their more accurate reports. do not believe it was any foul play.
herb in harlem
I can't believe New York and New Jersey politicians did not approve positive train control. Imagine all the graft they missed out on.
Michael in Greenpoint
Pretty sure Cuomo and Christie are happy to have the attention taken off both of their scandals for a few days.
Deja vu, didn't this happen just a few years ago in Westchester?
A great nation invests in its infrastructure. The money to upgrade our inexcusably outdated train technology should come first from the Feds.
Melissa
Kew Gardens
In actuality, despite today's horrific disaster, the problem is actually much bigger that the local accidents that have been plaguing our rail service lately.
Both state and federal governments have been abandoning rail travel, and allowing train transportation -- an economical and ecologically sound method of transit -- to deteriorate throughout the country.
Far more funding should be allocated to bringing our train systems into the present century.
Ellen
Washington Heights