Hoboken Train Crash

At the height of morning rush hour, a New Jersey commuter train packed with passengers and traveling way too fast crashed into Hoboken Terminal, killing a woman waiting on the platform and injuring more than 100 others

Man 1: …over today’s crash is an eerie reminder of this scene in Philadelphia just 16 months ago. On May 12, 2015, 8 people died and more than 200 injured when an Amtrak train derailed. Experts have said positive train control could have prevented that crash. Action News reporter Wendy Saltzman is live at 30th Street Station tonight with more on that story. Wendy.

Wendy: Well, this accident this morning is a reminder to many of these passengers that when they get on that train in the morning, or they’re coming home in the afternoon, they are putting their life in the hands of another person. And after that tragedy in Philadelphia, it has many of these commuters wondering why more hasn’t been done to avoid another deadly derailment. The mangled wreckage, May 12, 2015, 8 lives were lost when an engineer who was believed to be distracted hit a curve at more than twice the 50-mile-per-hour limit.

Woman 1: You don’t think that when you get on the train, you might not get off alive.

Wendy: But that’s exactly what happened in Philadelphia, and then this morning in Hoboken. Some of the details of the crashes are eerily similar.

Man 2: It’s quite a concern because I ride the train every day.

Wendy: Southwest Philly resident Sam Hill says he now drives more.

Sam: I’d rather be safe than sorry.

Wendy: And the potential dangers of train travel is on the top of minds of area commuters.

Woman 2: There’s always a risk, and you feel that risk.

Wendy: And while passengers are looking back to the 2015 crash, they are also praying for today’s victims.

Tom: That this would happen again is unthinkable.

Wendy: Attorneys Tom Kline and Robert Mongeluzzi, who defended clients in the Amtrak crash, say the Philadelphia derailment should have been a wake-up call to the railroad industry, that more automatic safety controls are needed.

Robert: The railroad industry still hasn’t woken up. Speed kills, and positive train control saves lives.

Wendy: In the aftermath of the Amtrak 188 crash, railroads were supposed to be installing automatic speed controls and braking mechanisms to counter any possible engineer error. But for those injured here and in New Jersey today, the change comes too late.

Sam: I think they need to check out themselves more regularly to make sure the trains are safe.

Woman 2: It’s just a normal day for them, and then all of a sudden, oh, you’re not here now.

Wendy: And although there has been an extension on the time for the railroads to install those positive train controls, there’s no doubt that in light of this accident, the trains and railroads will be pressured into putting those safeguards in faster before more lives were lost. Live at 30th Street Station, I’m Wendy Saltzman, Channel Six Action News.

Man 1: All right, Wendy…