After a three-month political standoff over funding that halted thousands of state-funded road and rail upgrades in peak construction season, New Jersey politicians reached agreement on controversial tax hikes—including a new 23¢-per-gallon levy on fuel—to restart work. The Sept. 30 deal in Trenton came the day after a New Jersey Transit (NJT) commuter train slammed into the Hoboken terminal. The crash killed a woman standing on the platform, injured more than 100 passengers and caused major damage to the station. The timing fueled media and industry speculation that the deal accelerated as concern rose over inadequate state infrastructure funding.
A federal probe led by the National Transportation Safety Board continues into the Sept. 29 crash that killed Fabiola Bittar de Kroon, 34, when she was hit by overhead debris. The train came to rest at the joining of a rail shed, canopy and the terminal building, which was built in 1907 and recently renovated. NTSB said in briefings that one recovered data recorder from the rear locomotive dates from 1995 “and was found to be not functioning during the trip.” Recovered on Oct. 4 in in the debris-damaged first car, event and video recorders are being analyzed, said a spokesman, who did not know if they are operational. But NTSB said track inspections found “nothing that would have affected the performance of the train.”