New Jersey Transit Train Derails at Penn Station in New York

I can appreciate the challenge of updating legacy equipment on critical infrastructure. Think of it this way: The mechanic has hard time working on the transmission when the engine is running. The job is easier when you're starting from scratch. However, the fact that the NY/NJ transit system hasn't figured out how to do regular maintenance in a timely and efficient fashion is unforgivable. You've had a century to figure this one out. What gives? As you might have noticed, exceptional turns into exceptionally bad rather quickly.

America does not care if you die in a train accident. America does not care if you die from lack of healthcare. America does not care if you die from poisonous pesticides. America does not care if you die from poisoned water. (etc., etc.)

America cares about rich people making another dollar.

Impeach Christie.

This article not only makes me concerned about the safety of me and my family but for my fellow riders. I personally always go to Penn Station to ride the train and I have always been scared of leaving the station because rails do not look good as they are rusty and do not look safe. Now that is not the only reason I fear for the safety of others and myself when going to Penn Station but that is besides the point. I honestly think that NJT needs to do a full inspection of the rails all around Penn Station because it is very old and the station is still aging so everything needs an update! It may be costly but in the long run it would be extremely beneficial to not only to the riders but to NJT because they would not have to worry as much about derailments or anything along those lines!

People are asking when our elected officials will get the message. Well, the message they're getting is not from the people - it's from their wealthiest donors. You know, the ones who would never get on a train with the unwashed masses. Why would they care about our crumbling infrastructure? They just want more tax cuts so they can continue to stay as far away from us plebs as humanly possible. They couldn't care less about our schools, trains, healthcare access, etc. They live in their own bubbles, and only care about short-term profits.

Christie was too busy vying for his place in Washington as Trump's sidekick.

Then, typical of "do nothing republicans" he picked up his fiddle and played while the transit system fell apart.
republican sabotage of Obama's infrastructure policies had Christie kill the much needed ARC tunnel because it would have also put many people to work. This republican also killed the high speed rail NJ could have had, as did many other republicans across the country with their "Do anything to hurt Obama" pettiness.
republican "Party over Country" has hurt America again and again.

Would an air-bearing suspension system in our railways, like the Japanese fast train system, work better? Likely; but how do we convert our aged and quasi obsolete rail transportation system, with such a large demand of commuters, into a state-of-the-art efficient and effective reality? Half in joke, shall we move Manhattan to Hoboken, now that bully liar Christie is being put out to pasture?

Christie helicopters to closed beaches, so what does he care?

Unfortunately, the west end of Penn Station's track interlocking wasn't designed to handle the volume it does. It only was meant to serve two tunnels of long distance Pennsylvania Railroad trains - not a busy commuter line and a long distance RR. There is little redundancy in the track design, so when a switch is knocked out, it affects a number of tracks.

Grand Central - on the other hand - has more options for rerouting and platforming trains.

With Christie paying Shell games with NJ taxpayer $$$$, you have to take the bus to get to NYC!

When will our elected officials get the message that significant investments are required to maintain our mass transit infrastructure? Glad no one was hurt.

Lesson learned (once again): always carry a bottle of water and medications you must take at regular intervals when travelling on any train heading in or out of NYC. This should be a warning to all foreign visitors as well.

Simply put, Republicans don't like trains and have been trying to de-rail ( no pun intended) them for decades. This is but one example of their callous attitude towards the thousands of people who depend upon rail travel. and many of whom probably voted for these venal "starve the beast" anti-government extremists.

The problem with Penn Station is that it services too many trains. Lacking spare track capacity is a problem for Amtrak when it needs to make a repair. The rerouting Long Island Railroad trains to Grand Central Station would be helpful. Unfortunately that project, which is not an Amtrak project, is behind schedule and over budget. Last Sunday, July 2, I was on an Amtrak train from Washington to Boston. As it approached Penn Station it stopped in the Hudson River tunnel for quite some time. Then it moved slowly into Penn Station. The NYT article indicates that Amtrak knew about the problem

Nice to see the most populous city in the country has a rail system over 100 year old - I mean, it's not like infrastructure reduces costs, stimulates economic growth, improves traffic or is vital in any other way to the success functioning of a major international city.

Oh wait - infrastructure does all those things. I suppose it's just not as important as ramming through an unpopular healthcare bill or tax cut for the 1%.

Looking forward to Republicans finding a way to blame Hilary or Obama for this.

As long the truly wealthy dont take mass transport in NYC, it is going to be all bandaids and quick fixes.

I lived in NYC for a few years (starting in 93) before it dawned on me that the wealthy only rarely use the subways. Which explains everything about the deteriorated state of the NYC subway in the last 15 years.

The other trains going into NYC the wealthy use a bit more but generally they are NOT using them for a daily work commute. I know: I take NJ Transit and Amtrak for years.

Just one more example of American Exceptionalism.

While not being 'directly' responsible for this particular event, Mr. Christie's legacy will haunt us for years to come. And cancelling the tunnel project while starving NJ Transit demonstrates the extent of his of hubris and self interest. Governor, what do you consider your accomplishments as two term leader of the great Garden State?

Derailments were a rare occurrence not to long ago. At least you didn't hear about them. Now it's like every week. What's going on? Is someone or some group doing this on purpose? I mean I know that's a little paranoid but what else is it? All the tracks are going bad at the same time? That doesn't seem feasible. Is someone hacking the system? There's lots of bugs about. Is it cause they are about to start major work? What is it ??????

Orange, NJ

Lest the calm demeanor of the stranded passengers lull NJ Transit into a false sense of complacency, from a regular user please know: I would have freaked.

Remember that back in October 2010, Governor Chris Christie cancelled the infrastructure build for a second tunnel from New Jersey to Penn Station.

As reported by the New York Times, "Christie Halts Train Tunnel, Citing Its Cost," (New York Times, 10/7/2010)

That second tunnel would be coming on line right now. But thanks to a Republican lack of interest in advancing this country, my New Jersey friends can no longer reach their jobs.

There's nothing wrong with the infrastructure in the USA. Ask any billionaire.

I am a regular viewer of NHK World, an English language TV service of the Japanese equivalent of PBS. Yesterday, they broadcast their "Japan Railway Journal" whose topic that day was the maintenance of the famous Shinkansen bullet train. All track repairs are done at night when no trains are running and replacement is done every few years. Much of this work utilizes specialized machines and train equipment. The stone ballast is removed and replaced as it becomes worn from the pressure of trains. The overhead power lines must be changed within one to ten years depending on the wear caused by passing trains. These are held taught by a system of heavy weights and pulleys so high winds and sagging from heat are not a problem. All these thing aspects are checked frequently by a test vehicle called "Dr. Yellow" which is full of high tech monitoring equipment. There have been no fatalities on the Shinkansen since its founding in 1964. We, on the other hand, have yet to run any high speed trains and what we have hardly meets Japan's ontime performance of a few seconds.

This is the long term effect of Republican tax cuts for the wealthy. There's no longer enough money to maintain our infrastructure - most of it installed in the early 20th century. Congress has been starving AMTRAK for decades, neglecting bridges and roads, and not creating new or innovative transportation systems (or the resultant jobs). Voters seem to have forgotten what their taxes are for.