NJT Train Derails Near Secaucus

Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum

Help Support Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

AlanB

Engineer
Honored Member
Joined
Aug 22, 2002
Messages
28,402
Location
Queens, New York
Two cars of a 12-car New Jersey Transit commuter train jumped the tracks shortly before 8 a.m. Monday in a remote area of the New Jersey Meadowlands near the new Secaucus rail transfer station.
The full story can be found here on WCBS News Radio.
 
I haven't heard anything official yet. I'm sure that for at least a while all service was shut down as their were passengers standing on the roadbed. By now I would hope and expect that at least one track is back in service, but again I have no actual information. :)
 
I'm sure he will when he receives more info. Like you saw, he had mentioned that he didn't have any news yet :)
 
I did a little status searching on the internet. A poll of Amtrak trains are running anywhere from 15minutes-1 hour late into Penn Station. NJT is running on modified schedules with modified regular service out of NYP and hourly service inbound. Cross-honoring on PATH is ocurring.
 
This morning, 1010 wins said that around 10am the passengers were "rescued" and that around 11 am, Northeast Corridor and North Jersey Coast Line trains were running with delays between NY and NWK. MidTOWN Direct was anything but, running in to hoboken. Why did it have to be diverted. 8 passengers were injured, and last I heard, they were looking at the wheels as a possible problem.
 
Amtrak Railfan said:
Where are the Cars of the Northeast Corridor was derailed today? :rolleyes:
"in a remote area of the New Jersey Meadowlands near the new Secaucus rail transfer station." per Alan's message
 
Here's an updated news report on the incident in Secaucus.

A New Jersey Transit commuter rail train lost a wheel Monday morning and two cars derailed, sending 12 passengers to hospitals and delaying thousands more on the busy corridor between Newark and New York.
You can view the full story from WCBS New Radio by clicking here.
 
On Tuesday, July 15, the Northeast Corridor and North Jersey Coast Line will operate on modified regular schedules. See Service Adjustments for details. Cross-honoring on PATH; NJT and private buses.
On Tuesday, July 15, MidTOWN DIRECT trains will operate to and from Hoboken on their regular schedules. Cross-honoring is in effect on PATH, Hudson-Bergen Light Rail, and NY Waterway Ferry service.
Click Here for the NJ Transit Service advisory pages. I'd be pretty ticked off if I were a commuter who uses MidTOWN Direct. Actually I'm mad even though I'm not a commuter. :angry:
 
In keeping with the post Viewliner put up about NJT's morning service, the local TV news is also reporting the same info about NJT's schedule. They did however state that NJT would add some cars to certain trains and that trains that normally run express would make at least some local stops.

Also they mentioned that the track is not expected to be fully repaired until after the morning rush hour, so this will also impact Amtrak service into and out of Penn.

What's really sad about this though is that had the Secaucus Transfer been completed on schedule, this would not be the major problem that it currently is. From the looks of the site I saw from the News-Chopper camera, the RR is already at three tracks in the area where the train derailed. However that third track is not yet in use, since they were dragging there feet at completing the Transfer.

If they had finished the project on schedule (it was supposed to be finished this past spring), even though they didn't want to open the station till September, then normal service would be running tomorrow.

George Warrington strikes again and even though he no longer works for Amtrak, he's hurt them again too. Yes the transfer was delayed because of the WTC disaster, but NJT could have still finished the project on time and just waited till PATH was back in service at the WTC site, before they opened the station. But no we had to drag our feet on this project. :angry:
 
Will 7 years ago a Train Derailment in Secaucus NJ hits 2 major Trains like a East Bound Amtrak Train derailed and its 12 Passagers Cars was derailed also on a Portal Bridge on the Hackensack River and two NJ Transit Trains collided is near a juncition was marshes on the Secaucus and Jersey City border during the Morning (AM) rush hour on Tuesday Feb 9 1996. This wreck was killed two engineers and a passager and 162 people was injured. :( :eek:
 
Hello there the NJ Transit Rail line Midtown Direct will have Trains to and from New York Penn Station tomorrow! And all Northeast Corridor and North Jersey Coast line Trains are resumed regularly Train service to and from New York Penn Station. :D :)
 
Amtrak Railfan said:
Hello there the NJ Transit Rail line Midtown Direct will have Trains to and from New York Penn Station tomorrow! And all Northeast Corridor and North Jersey Coast line Trains are resumed regularly Train service to and from New York Penn Station. :D :)
I can confirm what you're saying. Why couldn't they have MidTOWN Direct Service now that there are two tracks open, yet NJCL and NEC trains?

I guess the best equation for this:

Warrington=Deferred Maintenece
 
Viewliner said:
Why couldn't they have MidTOWN Direct Service now that there are two tracks open, yet NJCL and NEC trains?
The reason is due to the fact that there are speed restrictions on the repaired track. Anytime you install new track there is a required speed restriction, I think its 15 MPH, for the first 24 hours or so.

With that speed restriction in place, they still can't get enough trains through the area fast enough to permit the increased number of trains that Midtown Direct would add. Plus you've got equipment and crews that are out of place, since they are sitting in Hoboken, instead of Penn Station or Sunnyside Yard where they normally would be.

Finally getting off Viewliner's question, I have to laugh at the local news reports being broadcast on 1010 WINS News Radio. They've been reporting this story for several hours and I've heard it several times while driving in my car today.

They keep talking about the fact that there were only two crewmembers on the train, not including the engineer. This train supposedly had 12 cars, which would mean that there should have been at least one more A/C if not two. However, and this is what I find funny since once again a reporter didn't do his homework, one of the complaints is that there were no crew members around to supervise the passengers. The reporter considers this to be a big dangerous problem as passengers climbed out of the derailed cars and onto the tracks. Since there was no one to supervise, the reporter concluded that this was a major life-threatening problem as those passengers were on the tracks next to a live third rail.

Now the last time I looked, there were no third rails on that line, much less a live one. All Amtrak and NJT trains use overhead catenary power. They don't and can't use third rail power, even if it did exist over there in Secaucus. Once again a reporter is getting people up in arms over a problem that never existed, simply because he didn't do his homework. :angry:

On the other hand, he also keeps blaming NJT for not fixing the tracks fast enough too. Apparently he hasn't figured out that Amtrak owns those tracks. So while he's giving a black eye to NJT, at least in his ignorance he's spared Amtrak a black eye. :)
 
Back
Top