AP Source: Agency Found NJ TRANSIT Violations Months Before Hoboken Crash
HOBOKEN, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Federal rail officials found dozens of violations during an audit focusing on NJ TRANSIT's safety and operations, months before a train crashed in Hoboken this week, a U.S. official told The Associated Press on Saturday.
The official, who was familiar with the audit, spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the official wasn't authorized to speak publicly about an ongoing investigation.
NJ TRANSIT Train Crash: Photos | Videos | Transit Changes
The Federal Railroad Administration began an audit in June after noticing an uptick in rail incidents and found "dozens of safety violations'' that needed to be fixed immediately, the official said. The commuter rail agency was fined as a result of the audit, the official said, adding that federal agencies are continuing to work with the railroad to ensure compliance with federal rail safety guidelines.
NJ TRANSIT trains have been involved in more than 150 accidents that caused more than $4.8 million in damage to tracks or equipment since Jan. 1, 2011, according to federal data. There were 25 such accidents in 2015 and 10 in the first seven months of 2016, but none caused injuries or death. Most of the incidents occurred at low speeds and more than half were in train yards.
Records show NJ TRANSIT has paid more than $500,000 to settle federal safety violations since 2011. The data from the Federal Railroad Administration shows the violations ranged from employee drug and alcohol use to violations of railroad operating rules or practices.
The settlement payments include about $70,000 in fines NJ TRANSIT received after federal inspectors found more than a dozen violations in 2014 and 2015. Statistics for the current year are not yet available.
On Thursday, a NJ TRANSIT train smashed through a steel-and-concrete bumper at Hoboken Terminal and hurtled into the station's waiting area, killing a woman on the platform and injuring more than 100 other people.
The train's engineer, Thomas Gallagher, who was among those injured in the crash, has been interviewed by the National Transportation Safety Board, officials said, but the agency provided no further details about the interview in a news release Saturday.
The NTSB also retrieved an event recorder from the locomotive at the rear of the train and investigators are waiting to download speed and braking information it contains. Investigators haven't been able to extract a second recorder from the forward-facing video camera in the train's mangled first car because it is under a collapsed section of the train station's roof.
The signals on the tracks leading to Hoboken Terminal appear to be working normally and officials completed a walking inspection of the track, finding nothing that would have affected the performance of the train, the NTSB said in an update Saturday. Investigators have obtained video from other trains that were inside the train station when the crash occurred.
Signs posted at a NJ TRANSIT maintenance facility in Hoboken, dated February, said there had been 10 incidents involving trains in the prior two months, including five derailments. The sign said the "serious incidents reflect a dangerous trend'' and that the main cause of the incidents appeared to be caused by human error.
A spokesman for NJ TRANSIT didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
(TM and © Copyright 2016 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2016 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
