1 year after fatal Hoboken crash, NJ Transit hopes to prevent similar tragedy

<p>Exactly one year ago Friday, a New Jersey Transit train on the Pascack Valley line derailed at Hoboken Terminal.</p>

News 12 Staff

Sep 29, 2017, 10:11 AM

Updated 2,539 days ago

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Exactly one year ago Friday, a New Jersey Transit train on the Pascack Valley line derailed at Hoboken Terminal.
Falling debris from the crash killed Fabiola Bittar de Kroon, a young mother from Hoboken, and more than 100 others were hurt. Track 5 remains out of service, awaiting repairs.
Since the crash, NJ Transit has taken steps to improve safety in the hope of preventing similar incidents.
One measure is a sleep apnea screening, which 350 of the agency's 370 engineers having already undergone. The remaining 20 are expected to do so soon. The National Transportation Safety Board said the engineer of the train was found to have suffered from severe, undiagnosed sleep apnea.
NJ Transit is also upgrading bumper blocks in Hoboken and at other stations, as well as adjusting speed limits for incoming trains. Federal investigators found that the derailed train was going more than double the 10 mph speed limit when it crashed.
NJ Transit also says it's equipping hundreds of trains with automatic braking systems.