NJ Transit boss: Phone use, other violations unacceptable
Source: Albuquerque Journal
TRENTON, N.J. — Federal regulators have found numerous safety violations on the state’s troubled commuter rail system, including the lack of on-board emergency tools and working fire extinguishers, trains stopping too close to each other and workers using cellphones when they shouldn’t have.
New Jersey Transit Executive Director Steve Santoro disclosed the findings on Friday to a panel of state lawmakers investigating the agency after a fatal train crash in Hoboken in September.
Santoro said the Federal Railroad Administration’s review also found train engineers sometimes failed to blow horns at grade crossings, as required by law, and didn’t always perform required brake checks.
Santoro said the findings are unacceptable. He said NJ Transit has implemented stricter rules for employee conduct and longer suspensions for safety violations, but he conceded more needs to be done.
A dozen positions in NJ Transit’s system safety office, formed two years ago, have gone unfilled. The agency has seen its maintenance staffing and spending drop while trains are breaking down at higher rates than in other commuter railsystems, and it’s been slow to replace managers who’ve retired or moved to better-paying jobs elsewhere.
“New Jersey Transit is at a critical juncture, and we have issues to address,” Santoro testified. “First and foremost is the safety of our customers and employees. There’s no substitute for it, no alternative to it and no way around it.”
Santoro apologized for skipping last month’s oversight hearing on short notice to meet with federal regulators, telling upset lawmakers he didn’t mean it “as a sign of disrespect or disinterest.”
Santoro said NJ Transit has adequate funding to cover escalating labor costs and fees to operate on the Northeast Corridor. The agency is paying Amtrak $64 million this year to operate on the tracks from Trenton to New York City. That’ll increase to $73 million for next year and $104 million in five years, Santoro said.
A project to install the sophisticated safety technology known as positive-train control is fully funded and on schedule to meet a December 2018 installation deadline, with testing slated for next year.
Read more: https://www.abqjournal.com/882560/nj-transit-head-phone-use-other-violations-unacceptable.html
