#metro-north

Metro-North did an open house at their Harmon facility today and it was delightful to be on old New York Central property for a little while.

An analysis of federal rail data by NJ Advance Media shows that 58 percent of the 611 train derailments that have occurred in New Jersey over the past 20 years have been caused by human error -- twice the national rate and far higher than any other state in the country. While most derailments have not caused mass injury to the general public, rail experts were alarmed by the statistics and say it underscores the need for broader safety regulation before something far more serious occurs.... In terms of overall accidents, New Jersey falls somewhere in the middle when compared to other states with far more miles of rail, like Illinois, California and even neighboring New York.   But while statistics fluctuate slightly from year-to-year, human-error has consistently been the central factor in the majority of train derailments in the state since 2002, and overall since 1995, accident data from the Federal Railroad Administration show. Accident report narratives show that worker inattentiveness is the most frequently cited reason for the derailments. All told, human-caused derailments have cost state railroad companies about $10 million in track and equipment damage.... Human error is also the leading cause of all railway accidents in New Jersey since 1995, though not by as wide a margin as derailments. Federal Railroad Administration data show that about 48 percent of the more than 1,400 accidents in the state since 1995 have been caused by human error, a rate that ranks New Jersey third in the country, and still well ahead of the 39 percent national average. Human-caused accidents have caused three deaths, 146 injuries and more than $35 million in damages, the data show. "I think worker inattentiveness is something the entire transportation industry is becoming more attuned to," said Martin Robins, founding director of the Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center and who for years worked for NJ Transit. "It's like driving on an open road, on a major highway. You could fall asleep for a second and change lanes and suddenly get yourself into trouble. We've all had these moments." Robles said he views the Metro-North derailment in December 2013 as a flashpoint moment for the issue in terms of railways. In that case, a sleep-deprived engineer fell asleep at the controls, leading to the derailment of several cars as the train sped around a curve, killing four, injuring 115 and causing $9 million in damage. In New Jersey, NJ Transit and Consolidated Railroad Corp. (Conrail) have seen the most human-caused derailments in the last two decades.