NTSB: NJ Transit train sped up seconds before crash

The New Jersey Transit train that crashed into a rail station in Hoboken, N.J., last week sped up to more than twice the speed limit seconds before the train hit the terminal, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) announced yesterday.

NTSB investigators released details downloaded from the event data recorder and forward-facing video cameras on the commuter train that crashed into the station on Sept. 29. A woman standing on the station platform was killed and 100 people were hurt.

The data indicate that the train was traveling about 8 mph approximately 38 seconds before the collision. Train speed began to increase and reached a maximum of about 21 mph; the train was traveling at that speed when it collided with a bumping post. The train's engineer hit the emergency brake less than a second before the crash, according to an NTSB press release.

The board has not yet determined the probable cause.

NTSB technical experts and other investigators will meet Oct. 11 to verify and validate the data recovered from the train.