Lawmakers to feds: Give $10M to NJ Transit for train safety

Federal regulators found dozens more violations and issued additional fines during an audit that began months before the September 29 crash at Hoboken Terminal renewed questions about NJ Transit's safety practices.

Foxx says the government isn't prepared to commit to the money, but that the department believes strongly in positive train control.

Prieto's announcement comes after an Associated Press report found NJ Transit had more accidents and paid more in fines for safety violations than any other commuter railroad in the country over the past five years.

The transit agency said in a filing to federal regulators in June that it hasn't made additional progress on installing the system while approaching a 2018 deadline.

The Democratic senators cast the Hoboken train crash as a catalyst to dive deeper into NJ Transit's woes.

The train engineer has been working for New Jersey Transit since 1987. The crash killed one woman and injured more than 100.

"In addition, and as an extra safety measure, trains entering Hoboken Terminal will decrease their approach speed from 10 mph to 5 mph.to complement the new safety measure of having the conductor ride in the cab auto with the engineering remains". In particular, they say, they're concerned about underfunding of the agency's capital budget and the delay in implementing automatic train control technology.

The train was traveling 21 miles per hour, more than twice the speed limit, when it crashed through a bumper at the end of the tracks, according to a preliminary report.

The engineer told the NTSB his cell phone was stored and turned off in his personal backpack and he conducted required brake tests on the train prior to departure.

According to the National Transportation Safety Board, the throttle on the train went from idle to the fourth position, about half-power, 38 seconds before impact, and the speed increased to 21 miles per hour. It's unclear whether it would have slowed the train in time.

Additionally, NTSB formed seven technical groups that include operations, human performance, survival factors, signal systems, track and engineering, mechanical/equipment, event/video data recorders, to gather information and evidence for the investigation.

One person died and 110 people were hurt in the crash on Thursday September 29.

Starting at 4 a.m. Monday, commuters can access Tracks 1 through 4 using the external walkway near PATH. Tracks 7 and 8 can be accessed through the Main Terminal, the railroad announced Friday afternoon.