Federal inspector urged fine for NJ Transit on safety progress
NJ Transit should pay a penalty for falling behind on its progress on a mandatory safety system intended to prevent crashes like the one in Hoboken last September, a federal inspector recommended almost three months ago.
In a Federal Railroad Administration inspection report reviewed by The Record, dated June 12, the agency said NJ Transit had failed to meet its own milestones for installing positive train control that it laid out in a plan the railroad submitted to federal regulators.
NJ Transit's recently ousted compliance chief, Todd Barretta, told state lawmakers in a hearing in Trenton last week that NJ Transit was far behind on positive train control and was very likely to miss the December 2018 deadline for installing the system.
NJ Transit's own quarterly report for the three months of this year ending in June shows that the railroad has only installed the necessary equipment on 13 out of 440 locomotives, trained only 69 out of 1,100 employees and not activated the system on a single mile of the 326 miles of track that will require it.
Warnings:NJ Transit 'in great peril,' won't meet safety system deadline
Secrecy:Not just oil trains: CSX work on crash-avoidance system a secret, too
Fallout:Train safety system's installation could cut Penn Station's capacity
Editorial:NJ Transit's runaway train
Steve Santoro, the railroad's executive director, told lawmakers in Trenton last week that a contractor, Parsons Transportation, was to blame for the delays on positive train control.
However, federal regulators would only hold NJ Transit accountable for not making adequate progress on the system, not its contractor.
The inspection report, addressed to Santoro, recommended but did not require that federal officials fine NJ Transit. A penalty could range from $500 to $25,000.
Lisa Torbic, a spokeswoman for NJ Transit, said the agency expects to meet the 2018 deadline, and is adding key staff to reach that goal. It has reached an agreement with Parsons to devote additional resources to the project and accelerate the work, she said.
Erin Kuhlman, corporate vice president for marketing and communications at Parsons, said the company has been working with NJ Transit "to resolve any outstanding issues and we will continue to work towards the successful completion of the project."
Positive train control was required by Congress in 2008 after a head-on collision in southern California between a freight train and a commuter train killed 25 people.
The system automatically stops or slows trains to prevent them from running past stop signals or exceeding the appropriate speed in a particular location.
The National Transportation Safety Board has recommended railroads install the system for decades. The board considers positive train control among its "Most Wanted" safety improvements.
Railroads couldn't meet the original 2015 deadline Congress set, so lawmakers gave them a three-year extension.
High-profile crashes since 2008 have put pressure on railroads to get the system done.
They include last September's at Hoboken Terminal, which killed one person and injured more than 100 others.
They also include the 2015 derailment of an Amtrak train in Philadelphia, which killed eight people, as well as the 2013 derailment of a Metro-North train in the Bronx, which killed four people.
Excessive speed was a factor in all three crashes.