NJ Transit may not meet safety system deadline, new DOT chief says

NEW BRUNSWICK — In a sharp reversal from the Christie administration, the new acting commissioner of transportation cast doubt Tuesday on NJ Transit's ability to meet a year-end requirement to install a system to prevent train crashes.

The statement, by Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti, came on the day Gov. Phil Murphy introduced Kevin Corbett, his choice to lead the struggling agency. His appointment was expected, and The Record and other media organizations reported it last week.

Despite a series of quarterly progress reports that have showed NJ Transit to be far behind on installing positive train control and concerns from federal regulators that the agency would not be able to get the system done by Dec. 31, 2018, agency officials had said earlier this month that they had "every expectation" the deadline would be met.

On Tuesday, Gutierrez-Scaccetti offered a different answer.

"Nobody can say that right now," she said.

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Positive train control is among a multitude of problems at NJ Transit confronting the Murphy administration. The safety and reliability of the nation's largest statewide public transportation provider has eroded over the past several years. The agency has endured a chronic funding crunch and drain of its most experienced personnel.

"There are years of overlooked issues to account for," Murphy said Tuesday.

Murphy said Corbett, a transportation veteran, would provide the right leadership at the agency to "yank it back from the brink."

"The culture of the top floors is going to change," Murphy said, referring to NJ Transit's headquarters on Raymond Boulevard in Newark.

Corbett, who's currently vice president for strategic development at AECOM, a global transportation firm, has experience largely in marine shipping.

However, Corbett also served on the Empire State Development Corp. and the Regional Plan Association, so he is familiar with the transportation challenges facing the region.

Tom Wright, president of the Regional Plan Association, said Corbett had been involved in the civic life of New York for two decades and participated in the rebuilding of lower Manhattan after 9/11.

"He's a Renaissance man," Wright said.

Wright said Corbett has been an advocate for the Gateway Project, the most critical piece of which includes building a new tunnel under the Hudson River into Penn Station, an effort expected to cost $12.7 billion.

Though Gateway is considered vital for the region, Corbett has more immediate problems to address. He said the first priority would be rebuilding the shattered morale of the agency's 11,000 employees, and bolstering their efforts with new hires.

He also said NJ Transit would need to rebuild its relationships with its regional partners: Amtrak, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

Corbett said his goal would be to make NJ Transit the "team player" it was more than 10 years ago.

The NJ Transit board will need to approve Corbett's appointment. He'll succeed Steven Santoro, who became executive director in October 2016 during a tumultuous time at the agency.

In the preceding months, the Federal Railroad Administration had conducted a safety compliance audit of the agency, and it did not score well.

On Sept. 30, 2016, NJ Transit experienced its first fatal commuter train crash in 20 years. A train from Spring Valley, New York, slammed into an end-of-track barrier at Hoboken Terminal, killing one person and injuring more than 100 others.

The National Transportation Safety Board will announce the probable cause of the crash in Washington next week. Among the factors it has examined: Whether the engineer's undiagnosed severe obstructive sleep apnea played a role, as well as the absence of positive train control.

The Federal Railroad Administration recommended a fine of $12,000 last year for NJ Transit on its positive train control progress, the largest of any of the railroads required to install it nationwide.

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While Santoro did approve the hiring of new safety personnel and locomotive engineers, the agency remains short of both, according to numerous conversations with current and former employees.

At the same time experienced personnel were heading for retirement or better-paying jobs, allies of former Gov. Chris Christie were getting promotions and pay increases that may have had little connection with their qualifications.

Last week, Murphy signed an executive order for a full audit of the agency's finances and personnel practices, as well as its troubles with positive train control.

On Tuesday, Murphy said it would be a long-term effort.

"We've just begun to take the skin off the onion," Murphy said. "There are many more layers to uncover."