NJ Transit shows little progress on safety system as deadline looms

NJ Transit has made little progress on installing a required rail safety system, according to the agency's most recent report to federal regulators, even though the deadline to complete the complex system is just about a year away.

The agency is behind on equipping locomotives, training employees and installing radio towers needed to complete positive train control, according to the agency’s report for the three months that ended on Sept. 30.

Though NJ Transit officials have said they expect to complete the system by Dec. 31, 2018, state and federal officials have raised concerns that the agency will not be able to meet that deadline.

According to the report, which the Federal Railroad Administration posted on its website late last week, NJ Transit now has equipped 25 of its 440 locomotives for positive train control, installed 24 of the 124 radio towers it needs, and trained 137 of 1,100 employees who require it.

While the agency is now installing positive train control on every line it operates, except the spur to the Meadowlands Sports Complex, none of its 326 miles of track currently has the system in operation.

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NJ Transit spokeswoman Nancy Snyder said the agency "continues to have every expectation" of meeting the December 2018 deadline. Snyder said NJ Transit has reached an agreement with its prime contractor, Parsons Transportation Group, to accelerate the project.

"This important safety technology remains a priority, and we work every day to keep it moving forward," Snyder said. "To that end, we continue to add key management staff and forces in the field, to provide the staffing necessary to deliver the project on time."

NJ Transit has a new chief of project management. Robin Persad now fills that role after Charles Dickerson retired from the agency on Oct. 1.

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Positive train control was required by Congress in 2008 after a commuter train collided head-on with a freight train in southern California, killing 25 people.

The system automatically prevents trains from going too fast or running past stop signals. It can't prevent every type of rail accident, however. It remains unclear whether the system could have averted last year's deadly crash in Hoboken Terminal.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash, which killed one person and injured more than 100 others. It was NJ Transit's first fatal rail incident in 20 years.

Federal regulators expressed concern earlier this year that NJ Transit wouldn't be able to finish the project on time, and a Federal Railroad Administration inspector recommended that the agency be fined for falling behind on it.

NJ Transit's former chief of compliance also testified at a hearing in Trenton in August that the agency would not be able to meet the deadline.

Positive train control

Positive train control was required by Congress in 2008 after a commuter train collided head-on with a freight train in southern California, killing 25 people. The system, using sensors, satellites and computer automation, works to prevent trains from going too fast or running past stop signals.