Safety concerns about River Line raised at public hearing

There were two recent deaths on the light rail line

Safety concerns about the River Line, the light rail line that links Trenton and Camden, were the subject of a public hearing Tuesday evening in Palmyra.

In August, 15-year-old Matthew Dickinson was struck and killed by a River Line train in Palmyra. And last week, train operator Jessica Haley was killed when her train hit a downed tree on the track.

State Sen. Troy Singleton (D-Burlington), who hosted the hearing, said he couldn’t answer specifics about either of these deaths because they are under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board.

“It’s my hope that when that investigation comes forth and lays out this information, we’ll have a better understanding of actually what occurred and more importantly, how we can prevent it from happening again,” he said.

The crowd, which numbered more than 100 people, included members of the Dickinson family.

“As we sit and speak about timeliness, and on-timeliness and delays, it’s troubling to see the rate of speed at which the train travels through outdated technology,” said Jim Dickinson, Matthew’s father.

“This is very upsetting for me,” said Kelly Veneziale, Matthew’s aunt. “I think it’s very shortsighted that we do not have these solutions in place, that we have an unsafe rail line for our children to play and to go to school.”

Kevin Corbett, president of New Jersey Transit, was also criticized at the hearing.

“Kevin, it starts with you,” said Chris Dickinson, Matthew’s uncle. “My first suggestion would be to look in the mirror and see what can you do different? Because you’ve been in the seat since 2018.”

The River Line is contracted by NJ Transit to Alstom, a private company.

Original Article