Crash halts light rail in Downtown Jersey City for 2.5 hours

Light Rail commuters in Downtown Jersey City faced major disruptions to service after a light rail train collided with a vehicle on a busy segment of Jersey City’s Hudson-Bergen Light Rail. An incident like this would cause major commuter chaos if it occurs along one of the proposed Surrey LRT lines.

According to numerous sources including CBS New York, NBC New York, WABC 7, and WPIX 11, a light rail train collided with a vehicle at approximately 12:50PM eastern time. There were no passengers on the train, and the crew was uninjured, but the driver of the vehicle was treated for minor injuries. Service was subsequently suspended on a busy segment that carries two LRT lines.

Substitute bus service was provided by NJ Transit, but many passengers disembarking at the two LRT stations chose to walk between them. Frustrated passengers vented their grievances on social media, with some reporting being delayed in excess of 2 hours. Regular service was not fully restored until 3:27PM eastern time, more than 2-and-a-half hours after the crash.

Surrey’s LRT proposal will be prone to disruptions.

The proposed Surrey Light Rail Transit system will run at street level on segments of 104th Avenue, King George Boulevard and Fraser Highway. Incidents like this where LRT trains are involved in collisions with vehicles, cyclists or pedestrians can necessitate complete shut downs of that segment of the LRT system.

Once again, this incident highlights a major, fundamental flaw of the proposed street-running light rail system endorsed by TransLink, the Regional Mayors’ Council, and the City of Surrey. The proposed LRT lines run in the medians of major arterial roads, and would cross through several busy intersections at street level.

Any one of these busy intersections could be blocked and shut down if there is an accident.

SkyTrain for Surrey has called for the cancellation of the Surrey-Newton-Guildford LRT project, the conversion of the Surrey-Langley LRT into a SkyTrain extension of the Expo Line, and the construction of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) on King George Boulevard and 104th Avenue (instead of an LRT).

With BRT’s ability to detour around accident areas, and SkyTrain’s ability to simply pass overhead, a rapid transit system built on SkyTrain and BRT would not be subject to total disruptions.

Surrey residents expect their future rapid transit system to be a trustworthy and reliable service. A street-running LRT system will not deliver one.