NJ Transit operator killed in crash with tree identified, family filing lawsuit
TOWNSHIP OF MANSFIELD, New Jersey (WABC) -- The train operator killed Monday morning when a tree fell onto New Jersey Transit Light Rail tracks has been identified on Tuesday.
An attorney for Jessica Haley's family said Tuesday that they are in process of taking legal action against the state, New Jersey Transit, New Jersey Transit Rail Operations, Southern JJ Rail Group, Alstom, Burlington County Board of Commissioners, and the Township of Mansfield.
Haley, 41, was a single mother of three boys.
Attorney Kila Baldwin said that Haley lost her life "due to the failure of the responsible parties to inspect these tracks and keep them clear."
Her sister, Rebecca Haley, also worked as a train conductor on the New Jersey Transit River Line for Alstom, which contracts with New Jersey Transit.
She says that trees along that section were troublesome for years and other trains had hit downed trees in the past.
Baldwin said train conductors complained for years that something had to be done and even suggested having a track car go down the southbound track where Jessica was killed in advance of any passenger cars traveling that way.
"At one point, dangerous trees along the railway were marked with X's, but never taken down," Baldwin said. "There had been a landslide in that same area recently, and a small retaining wall was put up in one section to prevent debris from falling on the tracks, but many sections of the track, including the one where Jessica was killed, had no protection."
Haley's train was traveling southbound from Trenton when it struck a tree that had fallen on the tracks just north of Roebling Station around 6 a.m.
The train had 42 customers on board at the time of the incident. Of the passengers, 23 suffered non-life-threatening injuries, which are said to be mostly minor. The other 19 were accommodated by a bus.
The crash is still under investigation.
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