Pedestrians were struck by New Jersey Transit trains on Monday 1 February, one just west of the
Aberdeen-Matawan station and the other at the
New Brunswick station. Train service on the North Jersey Coast Line was suspended at 6:15 am when a pedestrian was struck. About 8:15 am, a policeman was standing vigil near a tarped-covered corpse on the westbound embankment near an idled westbound train. Initial reports suggest that a man walked or jumped off the station platform at New Brunswick at 4:15 pm, apparently committing suicide. These incidents, along with Tuesday's problems with Amtrak equipment, have made commuting by train particularly difficult this week. I was jammed near the doors just outside the passenger compartment of my train car yesterday, along with a dozen others, in a space that normally would host two to four standing passengers on a really busy day. And Manhattan-bound passengers were diverted from NJT at Newark to take the PATH into the city. To be sure, none of the problems seem to have been caused by NJT and they did the best they could to make the commute as tolerable as possible.
UPDATE as of 6 February: Both of the train strikes now sound like suicides.
- APP identified the pedestrian near Matawan: Krishna Kumar, 45, of the Laurence Harbor section of Old Bridge, was killed at about 5:30 a.m. Monday when he stepped in front of a Long Branch-bound train near the borough's boundary with Aberdeen, according to NJ Transit.
- NJ.com identified the pedestrian at New Brunswick: Erik Carmelia, 21, of Eastampton Township in Burlington County, died when he was hit by a NJ Transit locomotive engine at the downtown New Brunswick train station shortly after 4 p.m. on Monday, said NJ Transit spokesman Dan Stessel.
You people who found this to be so inconvenience,must have no heart and cold water runs throughout your veins.The lack of empathy and your selfishness of not caring about someone so young,is totally inappropriate. My heart goes out to the family of Erik and may he rest in peace for eternity
ReplyDeleteCommuters are always upset when they realize that a train has struck a pedestrian. They become concerned for the victim, his/her family and friends. When it is a suicide, they are routinely less sympathetic towards the victim, resentful that a person chose to involve them in their desperate act. Inconvenience isn't the main issue here. Maybe you don't ride the rails and have no experience with suicides, but those of us who commute regularly confront this occasionally and consider ourselves victims too. The railroad provides no information on these events and rightfully so.
ReplyDeleteIt has been a year since this tragedy. KK, rest in eternal peace! God bless.
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