State Looks to Improve NJ Transit Track Safety

In the wake of 81 incidents involving NJ Transit trains over the last two years, the state is looking to improve safety along railroad tracks.

Fifty one of those incidents were fatal, according to a report from NJ Transit and the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT), prompting the agencies to come up some with ideas to promote safety and reduce accidental deaths.

From 2008 to 2009, four Manasquan High School students or recent graduates at the time were hit and killed by NJ Transit trains. The most recent was 17-year-old from Spring Lake Heights who died Oct. 2009.

And as recently as last year, two women in separate local incidents died when their vehicles were hit by trains -- one in Spring Lake last April, and the other in Belmar last November.

Twelve "high-priority action items" with a focus on engineering, education and enforcement are expected to be implemented by NJ Transit and NJDOT within the year. The organizations will pilot gate skirts at some stations with grade crossings, a path used by pedestrians and sometimes cars to cross train tracks, to prevent people from ducking under gates. At the Plauderville station, "second train warning" signs will be tested to alert commuters of trains entering or exiting the station.

"Crossing gates is a pervasive problem in New Jersey," said Simpson. "It's dangerous, it's against the law and it models bad behavior for children."

Two Long Branch School District students were hit by trains in April last year. One of the students, Christian Butler, 17, was apparently lying on the tracks when he was hit by the train, but the investigation was unable to determine if it was a suicide.

Three days later, a 15-year-old Long Branch boy was struck by a train while walking along the tracks. The boy, who was not identified by the Long Branch Police or NJ Transit, survived the incident.

A few days later, a Point Pleasant woman was killed after she drove onto railroad tracks in Spring Lake. An autopsy showed that the woman, Lily Seegobin, 19, committed suicide.

Improving public education on rail safety is also a priority, Simpson said. NJ Transit is expanding its Rail School Safety Program, presentations held at schools near rail lines, to include compelling accounts from transportation officials involved in pedestrian train accidents. NJ Transit will also launch an aggressive public awareness campaign using social media, videos and advertisements.

Officials are also eyeing four high-risk crossings that will be studied for possible safety improvement plans: Morris Street in Dover (Morris/Essex line), Chelsea Avenue and Fifth Avenue in Long Branch (North Jersey Coast line), Outwater Lane in Garfield (Bergen County line) and at the Mount Taber station (Morris/Essex line). The crossings were determined following a hazard analysis which examined the number of trespassers in the area.

The Long Branch crossing is the area where Butler was struck by the NJ Transit train.

Simpson did not specify which train stations would be getting safety measures. 

While the number of accidental train deaths can be reduced through improved safety measures, not much can be done to prevent suicides, said NJ Transit Police Chief Christopher Trucillo. Suicide hotline advertisements and telephones were installed about a year ago at the Hamilton train station, which saw numerous suicides-by-train in 2010.

In 2011, eight suicides, including two in Millburn, occurred on NJ Transit tracks.

"You just can't fence everything," said Simpson when asked if installing fences around train tracks  to deter trespassers was an option. "To all of our customers, if you see someone trespassing on the tracks, just dial 9-1-1. Tell them where you are, that gets us to the dispatch, the train operators to slow the trains and stop them in the vicinity."