N.J. Transit Train Hits Tree on Track, Killing 1 and Injuring 23

A light rail train traveling south from Trenton collided with a chunk of tree, killing the train’s operator.

One person was killed and nearly two dozen others were injured in South Jersey on Monday morning when a New Jersey Transit light rail train struck a tree on the tracks, the commuter rail said.

Just after 6 a.m., a River Line train traveling south from Trenton collided with a chunk of tree near the Roebling station in Mansfield Township, killing the train’s operator, New Jersey Transit said in statement. Photos of the accident show the window of the front car smashed in and the tree partly under the train.

There were 42 passengers onboard, the statement said, and 23 people were treated for non-life threatening injuries, most of which were minor.

New Jersey Transit police officers were on the scene, and the agency was investigating the crash and how a chunk of a tree ended up on the tracks while a train was en route, the agency said.

Gov. Phil Murphy said on social media that he had been briefed on the accident and that an investigation was underway.

River Line service was suspended between Florence and Trenton stations, New Jersey Transit said on Monday afternoon.

Norris Young, a passenger on the train, told an NBC affiliate in Philadelphia that he had seen people shaken up and some with open wounds.

“It was like a movie,” he said. “I’m still shaken up. Somebody lost their life.”

The River Line runs between Camden and Trenton, and runs parallel to the Delaware River. The episode came just a few days after a train on the same line hit a truck at a crossing just a few miles away from Monday’s crash. Four passengers and the train’s operator were injured.

New Jersey Transit has been plagued with infrastructure issues for years, but especially struggled this spring and summer to provide reliable service to customers. A spate of failures caused delays during morning and evening commutes in May and June.