HUMAN ERROR PRELIMINARY CAUSE FOR ONE-CAR DERAILMENT ON MAIN LINE

No injuries and Regular Service has resumed

Preliminary findings suggest that human error may have caused a low-speed derailment of one car on NJ TRANSIT’s Main Line Train 1204 at 7:54 a.m. today in West Secaucus.

The train remained upright, there were no injuries to passengers and crews. NJ TRANSIT’s senior management and police personnel arrived at the scene within 10 minutes of the incident to assist customers who remained on the heated train. Customers were also given immediate and regular service updates, as well as access to cell phones.

To keep the passengers safe and warm, a rescue train was positioned nose to nose with the derailed car so that they could walk from one car to another, and did not have to go into the freezing temperature. The transfer took about 13 minutes. The rescue train stopped in Secaucus for about 160 of the customers for service to Midtown, before arriving in Hoboken.

While the investigation is continuing, preliminary findings show that Train 1204 derailed after field personnel improperly identified a frozen switch, and consequently authorized the train to proceed over the switch. The switch was not properly aligned due to snow and ice buildup. We expect to conclude the investigation early next week.

Regular service resumed at 1:15 p.m. today, and this afternoon, rush hour service is expected to operate normally.

To accommodate Main Line customers traveling between Kingsland and Hoboken, where service was suspended, NJ TRANSIT provided buses from Kingsland Station to Rutherford Station, where they were able to take a train from Rutherford to Hoboken Terminal.

Train 1204 was scheduled to arrive in Hoboken at 7:52 a.m.; the train departed Waldwick at 6:53 a.m.

NJ TRANSIT is the nation's largest statewide public transportation system providing bus, rail and light rail services for 752,600 daily trips on 238 bus routes, two light rail lines and 11 commuter rail lines. It is the third largest transit system in the country with 162 rail stations, 29 light rail stations and more than 17,000 bus stops linking major points in New Jersey, New York and Philadelphia.