MONTCLAIR, N.J. — Seventeen people were injured Friday night (Dec. 19) when two NJ Transit trains collided near the Bay Street station in Montclair, derailing one car.
An NJ transit spokesman said the injuries were not life-threatening. Six of the injured were taken to hospitals, news site Montclair Local reported. All six had been released by today, the site said in an update.
The collision on the Montclair-Boonton Line occurred about 6:47 p.m., according to an NJ Transit social media post. NJ Transit police were leading the investigation pending the arrival of a team of investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board.
Service on the Montclair-Boonton line was suspended following the collision and resumed Saturday morning, once the NTSB completed its initial gathering of information. That allowed NJ Transit to begin clearing the damaged equipment from the scene.
— To report news or errors, contact trainsnewswire@firecrown.com.
With the low number of injuries, I presume this was a collision where a following train hit the one in front of it. Sounds like an engineer error in either not following signal indications or not following speed protocol. How much damage to the trains?
There seems to be an issue with crews and restricted speed. This stuff shouldn’t be happening. When I was an engineer with Amtrak I would follow trains at restricted speed but at a distance I could safely stop, my focus was on the train ahead, radio transmissions and the braking ability of my train.
The complacency brought on by dependency upon legislation as the remedy is appalling.
Let’s remember that PTC will not prevent certain low-speed collisions, accidents caused by reversing with inadequate observation, derailments caused by track or train defect(s), grade crossing collisions, or collisions with previously derailed trains…
If memory serves well, this is like the 3rd NJT accident in like 4 weeks. What’s going on with the NJT?
Another PTC success story.