HARRISON –
About 200 passengers had to be evacuated from a PATH train in Harrison after an accident involving a truck Sunday night, according to Erica Dumas, a spokeswoman for the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey.
Dumas said the lead car of a PATH train just leaving the Harrison station enroute to Newark struck an Amtrak “box truck” at the Cape May St. crossing at about 9 p.m.
The impact caused the front two wheels of the lead car to derail and caused injuries to the truck driver, a PATH engineer and conduct, and one passenger, all of whom were taken to St. Michael’s Medical Center, Newark, for treatment, Dumas said.
Identities of the people hurt or their conditions weren’t readily available at press time.
As PA track crews busied themselves with the derailed train, Port Authority PD, joined by Harrison Police and Fire Department members, aided in escorting the estimated 200 passengers onto a rescue train that returned them safely to the Harrison station, the spokeswoman said.
Harrison Fire Director Harold Stahl said the incident happened about a quarter mile from the Harrison station along a dirt road near the PATH yards used by railroad service vehicles. He said Harrison firefighters checked for any oil leakage after five PATH cars had reportedly gone off the track.
There is an “ongoing investigation” of the accident taking place by the P.A., Dumas said.
It took PA workers a couple of hours to clear the track and restore service, Dumas said. In the meantime, train service along the Newark-Harrison-Jersey City- World Trade Center route continued on another track.
As of Monday morning, train service along the Newark-Harrison- Jersey City line was “running smoothly,” Dumas said.
– Ron Leir
