Must See Video On NJ Transit: 'Oh My God, I'm Going To Be In Another New Jersey Train Crash'
HOBOKEN, N.J. (CBSNewYork) – Imaging riding home on your commuter train when it suddenly begins to rock, jump and shake as it speeds over the rails.
"It felt like I was on a plane going through heavy turbulence," and NJ Transit rider Shawn McLoughlin.
McLoughlin took his cell phone video on board the 5:37 p.m. NJ Transit train traveling on the Pascack Valley line on Tuesday night, reports CBS2's Alice Gainer.
"For the first two minutes, I literally held on as the train shifted to the right and we were bouncing excessively," he said.
McLoughlin says the conductors didn't stop the train or offer any explanation to concerned passengers.
They also apparently didn't mention it to NJ Transit, because one day after he posted the video on Twitter, NJ Transit finally wrote back apologizing for the delay in response and asking for more information.
It then located the car and took it out of service.
CBS2 asked NJ Transit to go on camera about the scene shown in the video, but they declined and called it a rare occurrence, a mechanical issue with the car's suspension.
McLoughlin says he seems to encounter issues with NJ Transit quite frequently: "Delays, cancelled trains, overcrowding, standing room only and it's been "a very, very difficult commute."
In a twist in his story, Tuesday's incident was like déjà vu for McLoughlin.
"I personally thought to myself, 'Oh my God, I'm going to be in another New Jersey train crash,'" he said.
McLoughlin says he was in the front car of the train that crashed in Hoboken in 2016, killing one and injuring more than 100 people.
MORE: Video Shows Major Damage At Hoboken Train Station After NJ TRANSIT Crash
He stopped taking the train for more than a year.
"I took the bus, I drove, I carpooled, and it was an inconvenience," he said.
He eventually went back to taking the trains, but he wants Gov. Phil Murphy to make good on his promise to fix the system.
While they usually respond to complaints quickly, McLoughlin says he's going to keep tweeting about his experiences hoping NJ Transit keeps taking notice.
