TRAIN CRASH - Hoboken, New Jersey

"Investigators delve into mystery of Hoboken's rush hour train crash" PBS NewsHour 9/29/2016

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  A rush hour commuter rail train smashed into a station in Hoboken on Thursday, killing one and injuring more than one hundred.  Hari Sreenivasan speaks with Brenda Flanagan of NJTV News about the factors that may have led to the accident and upcoming investigations into transit security and safety.

HARI SREENIVASAN (NewsHour):  Investigators in Northern New Jersey have a big question to ponder tonight:  Why did a commuter train smash into a station in the midst of rush hour?

For now, the answer is anything but clear.

It was 8:45 this morning, when a New Jersey transit train came barreling into Hoboken without slowing down.  A passenger in the first car said there'd been no hint of anything wrong.

JAMIE WEATHERHEAD-SAUL, Rain Passenger:  There wasn't even a screeching, like it was halting.  It just kept going.  Maybe there was some kind of, like, braking involved, because the lights went off and people started screaming.

HARI SREENIVASAN:  The speeding railcars crashed through a barrier and into the outer wall of the terminal waiting room, crushing the front of the train and collapsing part of the ceiling.

POLICE SCANNER AUDIO:  We have a train that's into the train station at Hoboken terminal.  We are going to need multiple EMS for multiple injuries.

HARI SREENIVASAN:  Police and emergency workers rushed to the station, a commuter hub just outside New York that handles 50,000 passengers every day.  Bystanders jumped in to help people pinned under mangled steel and concrete.

MIKE LARSON, New Jersey Transit Employee:  The second half of the first car was completely destroyed, to where they were crawling on their hands and knees.  And we were trying to get as many people out.  I assisted in maybe three or four people getting out.

HARI SREENIVASAN:  The lone fatality was a woman on the platform killed by the falling debris.

CANADA - Rail Disaster Update

"Unanswered Questions for Canada's Worst Rail Disaster in Nearly 150 Years" (Part-1) PBS Newshour 7/11/2013

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  At least 50 people are confirmed or presumed dead after a runaway train carrying crude oil derailed and exploded in the Québécois town of Lac-Mégantic.  While still unclear on what precipitated the crash, Hari Sreenivasan reports on information from Canadian authorities about an engine fire right before the disaster.

"Rail CEO, Fire Department Dispute Details Leading Up to Canadian Train Disaster" (Part-2) PBS Newshour 7/11/2013

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SUMMARY:  Hari Sreenivasan talks to Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's Nancy Wood, who offers an update on the new criminal investigation into the train derailment and explosion, backlash inside the town of Lac-Megantic against the rail company CEO and whether the recent accident is likely to affect oil transportation in Canada.

CANADA - Train Blast Update

"Dozens Missing After Deadly, 'Devastating' Canadian Train Blast" (Part-1) PBS Newshour 7/8/2013

GWEN IFILL (Newshour):  Now to this weekend's deadly train accident in Canada, which claimed the lives of 13 people.  More than 35 remain missing.

And we turn again to Hari for that story.

HARI SREENIVASAN (Newshour):  Disaster struck in the dark early Saturday.  French Canadians looked on in the first frantic moments.  And then at least five oil tanker cars exploded, and a fireball burst into the night sky.

Orange flames engulfed the core of Lac-Megantic, a Quebec town of some 6,000 people about 150 miles east of Montreal and near the Maine border.  Railway officials said the parked train had gotten loose and hurtled downhill nearly seven miles before jumping the tracks.

WOMAN:  You could see the train, but it was going so fast you couldn't even see between the cars, and then I saw a car lift up.

MAN:  There was a ruckus.  It leaped.  There were big balls of fire above the cafe.  And just in the time it took to cross the street, the street was filled with fire.  It was a river of fire.

HARI SREENIVASAN:  The raging fire and heavy black smoke forced a third of the town's residents from their homes.  On Sunday, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper toured the devastation, and said at least 30 buildings were destroyed.

PRIME MINISTER STEPHEN HARPER, Canada:  At this point, the mood is quite good.  The solidarity of everybody is quite strong, but I know there is going to be waves of emotion over the next few weeks, as the extent of this -- and this is a very big disaster in human terms -- as the extent of this becomes -- becomes increasingly obvious.

HARI SREENIVASAN:  By today, search teams were still being hampered by the need to keep two more derailed tank cars from exploding.  It was the fourth train accident involving oil shipments this year in Canada, and it raised new questions about the safety of transporting oil by railroad, all of this as the Obama administration weighs approval of the Keystone XL pipeline to move crude from Canada to U.S. refineries on the Gulf Coast.

Hum.... you park a train on a hill and do not use some sort of chock in case the breaks fail?


"Fiery Train Crash Will Leave Big Impact on the Small Canadian Community" (Part-2) PBS Newshour 7/8/2013

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  In Canada, a fiery oil tanker train derailment has so far claimed the lives of 13 people, while 37 people remain missing, some of whom may never be found.  Hari Sreenivasan talks to Sophie Tremblay of the Canadian Broadcasting Company, about how the accident may prompt debate about the safety of oil pipelines.