by DutchRailnut
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/08/nyreg ... f=nyregion
Some Criticism of Procedure After Train Cars Disconnect
By VINCENT M. MALLOZZI
Published: March 8, 2008
TRENTON — Cars on a New Jersey Transit train on its way to New York
during the evening rush two weeks ago uncoupled as the train was
leaving the North Elizabeth station, stunning riders and drawing
criticism from the conductors’ union.
Dan Stessel, a spokesman for New Jersey Transit, confirmed the
incident, which occurred on Feb. 22 at 6:04 p.m., on a run that
originated at the Trenton station.
As the engineer powered up the eight-car train and began moving east
about 5 miles an hour, the steel couplers connecting the second and
third cars separated, leaving the cars several feet from each other.
“As soon as the coaches parted, the brakes on all of the cars went
into full application,” Mr. Stessel said on Wednesday. “There were no
injuries.”
After a delay of a little over an hour, the cars were reattached and
the crew was instructed by New Jersey Transit authorities to drop off
all of the passengers at the next stop, Newark Liberty International
Airport.
There were about 600 riders on the train, many left shaken by the
incident.
“When the conductor announced that the train had separated on the
track, there was complete shock on the faces of everyone around me,”
said Rick Smith, a 37-year-old graphics designer from Levittown, Pa.,
who was on the train that night, heading to work in Manhattan.
“If the cars had come apart on a really crowded train heading out of
New York, when many people are standing in the vestibules of the
train, someone could have been hurt,” Mr. Smith said, “or killed.”
Ashley Thorne, 21, the director of communications for the National
Association of Scholars in Princeton, was on her way home to Jersey
City that night, but she did not initially know anything had
happened. “About an hour went by before I finally heard a conductor
whisper to another guy ‘Uh, the train came apart.’ ”
Mrs. Thorne said that “once our train started moving again, a
conductor asked a man riding between cars to return to his seat. The
conductor told him, ‘Trust me, you don’t want to be standing there.’
”
Mr. Stessel said the accident was not caused by a mechanical or a
human error. A piece of debris, he said, struck the couplers, which
resemble two hands, one below the other and palms face-to-face,
interlocked at the knuckles.
“We were able to identify evidence of debris that struck the train,”
he said, though he could not identify what kind of debris created
enough force to separate the steel couplers.
Patrick F. Reilly, the general chairman of the United Transportation
Union, which represents the 1,100 conductors who work for New Jersey
Transit, said on Thursday, “This could have been a catastrophe if a
passenger was passing through the cars at the time of separation.”
Mr. Reilly also criticized the decision to restart the train with
passengers aboard. He said that the passengers should have
immediately been led off the train, which should have been taken out
of service.
“We were just praying that we got to the next stop in one piece,
without the train coming apart again,” Mr. Smith said. “People
sitting in the back told me they were worried that another train
might hit them from behind.”
Mr. Stessel, who said that the train was traveling at very low speed
that night, added that he believed such a separation was highly
unusual and not likely to happen again.
“This was a rare occurrence,” he said.
Some Criticism of Procedure After Train Cars Disconnect
By VINCENT M. MALLOZZI
Published: March 8, 2008
TRENTON — Cars on a New Jersey Transit train on its way to New York
during the evening rush two weeks ago uncoupled as the train was
leaving the North Elizabeth station, stunning riders and drawing
criticism from the conductors’ union.
Dan Stessel, a spokesman for New Jersey Transit, confirmed the
incident, which occurred on Feb. 22 at 6:04 p.m., on a run that
originated at the Trenton station.
As the engineer powered up the eight-car train and began moving east
about 5 miles an hour, the steel couplers connecting the second and
third cars separated, leaving the cars several feet from each other.
“As soon as the coaches parted, the brakes on all of the cars went
into full application,” Mr. Stessel said on Wednesday. “There were no
injuries.”
After a delay of a little over an hour, the cars were reattached and
the crew was instructed by New Jersey Transit authorities to drop off
all of the passengers at the next stop, Newark Liberty International
Airport.
There were about 600 riders on the train, many left shaken by the
incident.
“When the conductor announced that the train had separated on the
track, there was complete shock on the faces of everyone around me,”
said Rick Smith, a 37-year-old graphics designer from Levittown, Pa.,
who was on the train that night, heading to work in Manhattan.
“If the cars had come apart on a really crowded train heading out of
New York, when many people are standing in the vestibules of the
train, someone could have been hurt,” Mr. Smith said, “or killed.”
Ashley Thorne, 21, the director of communications for the National
Association of Scholars in Princeton, was on her way home to Jersey
City that night, but she did not initially know anything had
happened. “About an hour went by before I finally heard a conductor
whisper to another guy ‘Uh, the train came apart.’ ”
Mrs. Thorne said that “once our train started moving again, a
conductor asked a man riding between cars to return to his seat. The
conductor told him, ‘Trust me, you don’t want to be standing there.’
”
Mr. Stessel said the accident was not caused by a mechanical or a
human error. A piece of debris, he said, struck the couplers, which
resemble two hands, one below the other and palms face-to-face,
interlocked at the knuckles.
“We were able to identify evidence of debris that struck the train,”
he said, though he could not identify what kind of debris created
enough force to separate the steel couplers.
Patrick F. Reilly, the general chairman of the United Transportation
Union, which represents the 1,100 conductors who work for New Jersey
Transit, said on Thursday, “This could have been a catastrophe if a
passenger was passing through the cars at the time of separation.”
Mr. Reilly also criticized the decision to restart the train with
passengers aboard. He said that the passengers should have
immediately been led off the train, which should have been taken out
of service.
“We were just praying that we got to the next stop in one piece,
without the train coming apart again,” Mr. Smith said. “People
sitting in the back told me they were worried that another train
might hit them from behind.”
Mr. Stessel, who said that the train was traveling at very low speed
that night, added that he believed such a separation was highly
unusual and not likely to happen again.
“This was a rare occurrence,” he said.
If Conductors are in charge, why are they promoted to be Engineer???
Retired Triebfahrzeugführer. I am not a moderator.
Retired Triebfahrzeugführer. I am not a moderator.
Is that more like it, Dutch Railnut?