Community Corner

NJ Transit Could Have Prevented Millions in Sandy Damage, Records Show

The agency did not adhere to a storm plan put in place four months before the storm swallowed a third of its train fleet, according to a report by The Bergen Record.

Written by Amy Brynes.

NJ Transit has released documents indicating that millions of dollars worth of equipment damage could have been prevented if officials had adhered to a storm plan developed a few months before Hurricane Sandy swallowed a third of the agency's train fleet, according to The Bergen Record.

The papers, released following a public records suit filed by newspaper in March, showed that commuter trains were supposed to be transferred to higher land in the event of a hurricane or severe tropical storm. Instead, NJ Transit moved 343 pieces of equipment to low-lying areas near the water, resulting in $120 million in damage. 

NJ Transit officials have declined to explain or discuss why crews stored the engines and railcars in low-lying yards in Kearny and Hoboken that are near water, according to the article. The 3 1/2-page storm plan prepared in June 2012 detailed over a half dozen sites on higher ground where equipment should be moved prior to a severe storm.

Damaged equipment included 70 locomotives and 273 railcars that were flooded during Sandy’s storm surge.

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