1996 Secaucus train collision

Train #1254 had departed Waldwick at 8:03 a.m. EST, about 5 minutes later than the 7:58 a.m. departure time. The train would make stops at Ho Ho Kus, Ridgewood, Radburn Fair Lawn, Broadway Fair Lawn, Plauderville , Garfield, Rutherford, and Harmon Cove. The train's final stop was supposed to be Hoboken Terminal with an arrival expected at 8:44 a.m. Aboard the train was engineer was John J. DeCurtis, conductor Stephen Miller, as well as an unnamed assistant conductor. Train #1254 consisted of one Comet II cab car (#5146), 4 trailer Comet I cars, and a GP40PH-2 #4110. Train #1254 made all stops on the Bergen County Line except Glen Rock Boro Hall; the train also made a stop at Harmon Cove (it was replaced by Secaucus Junction by 2003). At the time of the collision, the train had over 250 passengers aboard.[1]

Train #1107, headed for Suffern, had departed Hoboken Terminal at 8:31 a.m. EST, about one minute late. Train #1107 was operated by engineer Alfonso Debonis, as well as an unnamed conductor and assistant conductor. #1107 consisted of GP40PH-2 #4148, 5 Comet I trailer cars, and one Comet I cab car (#5120). At the time of the collision, the train held 125 passengers and 2 deadheading NJT employees who were traveling to Suffern so they could operate another train that originated there. Both trains were running in push-pull configuration.[1]

There were three fatalities:

• John J. DeCurtis, 59, lived on Staten Island, was the engineer of train #1254 and had been an engineer for 40 years.[2]
• Arthur David Stern, 49, lived in Fair Lawn, was a lawyer in New York City. He was the only passenger who died.[3][2]
• Alfonso Debonis, 47, lived in Hasbrouck Heights, was the engineer of train #1107, employed by NJ Transit Rail Operations for 7 years, was promoted to engineer in 1990.[2]

The New Jersey Transit Police Department was notified at 8:40 am and arrived at the accident site 13 minutes later. Other emergency services arrived within about 10 to 20 minutes after the first several 911 calls were made.[1]

The conductor of train #1254 was able to evacuate all passengers of the train with the help of the assistant conductor. The conductor aboard train #1107 was reported to be visibly upset, repeatedly crying that "people are dead" which also worried many passengers, the 2 deadheading NJ Transit employees helped evacuate the train instead. After the evacuation, the remaining crew members stood watch to flag down any oncoming trains. Both crews abroad both trains did not use the public address system to communicate with passengers, they instead went from car to car yelling for passengers to exit the train. The assistant conductor aboard train #1254 later reported that he did not know if the public address system was working or not, so he did not use it. The conductor aboard train #1107 could not recall if the system worked or not. Throughout the evacuation process, both train crews communicated by hand held radio. The accident was first reported by the engineer of an eastbound NJ Transit train on the Main Line at 8:45 am.[1]