CAMDEN, N.J. — Two construction workers were killed Friday night when stuck by a PATCO train on the Ben Franklin Bridge linking Philadelphia and Camden, the Camden Courier-Post reported.
The workers were struck by a westbound train on the PATCO (Port Authority Transit Corp.) Speedline, which operates between Philadelphia and Lindenwold, N.J. A Delaware River Port Authority spokesman said the accident occurred about 9:20 p.m. near the middle of the bridge but closer to the New Jersey side. DRPA police and Camden County authorities are investigating.
The newspaper reported the workers were employed by JPC Group Inc., a construction contractor based in Philadelphia and Blackwood, N.J. They were involved a long-term bridge rehabilitation project announced in March 2020 and scheduled to continue through December 2020.
The Ben Franklin Bridge, which opened in 1926, is a 7,456-foot suspension bridge carrying seven lanes of vehicular traffic with two PATCO tracks on a lower level.
They may have been working on the bridge, not the Speed Line. If so, were they authorized to be where they were? Trains run 24 hours.
The train that hit the workers was Westward, meaning TO Philadelphia. The photo above is an Eastward to Lindenwold. The PATCO line is a rapid transit line, not a railroad.
The line across the bridge goes into a subway at each end, later rises to the surface at Ferry Ave. NJ.
http://www.ridepatco.org/
Sounds like a lack of communication between the railroad abs the contractor. Seems like their should have been something advising PATCO trains and dispatchers of work being done on the bridge. Did the contractor properly notify PATCO that workers were present on the bridge?