Family of River Line train operator killed in crash file lawsuit: ‘Preventable accident’
Lawsuit filed after train operator killed in River Line train crash
Kila Baldwin, attorney and shareholder at Anapol Weiss, says the family of 41-year-old Jessica Haley plan to sue the New Jersey transit company, state, and township after she was tragically killed in Monday’s River Line train crash.
MANSFIELD, NJ - A family is both mourning and taking action after a River Line train operator was killed in a crash that occurred Monday.
New Jersey Transit said the crash happened just after 6 a.m. on the southbound Trenton rail near the Roebling station. Thirty-six people were aboard the train when officials say it struck a downed tree, killing the train operator and leaving 16 people with minor-to-moderate injuries.
A family attorney identified the conductor killed in Monday’s River Line train crash as 41-year-old Jessica Haley, a single mother to three boys ages 13, 8, and 6-years-old.
Kila Baldwin, attorney and shareholder at Anapol Weiss, says Haley lived in Bucks County and worked for Alstom, the company that contracts with NJ Transit, for almost 20 years. Baldwin says they plan to sue the transit company, state, and township, among others.
"This is a tragic loss, but they don’t want it to be for nothing and they want to help prevent this from happening in the future," she said. "New Jersey Transit absolutely had knowledge this was a really dangerous area."
Baldwin says Haley’s sister, who is also a conductor, told her the trees have been an ongoing concern for years.
"It got so bad the conductors were suggesting before they sent the early morning trains out that they run a track car down the track to make sure it cleared off any trees, that obviously wasn’t done," said Baldwin. "Jessica was the first southbound train that morning and obviously this preventable accident happened."
River Line train operator killed, several hurt after striking tree in Burlington County
A River Line train conductor is dead and more than a dozen are hurt after an accident in Mansfield Township early Monday morning.
SKYFOX was overhead Tuesday afternoon as River Line personnel made track repairs and evaluated the area around the accident.
A NJ Transit spokesperson said that’s why they suspended service between Trenton and Florence for the second day in a row, until Tuesday afternoon, when full service resumed.
FOX 29 reached out to NJ Transit about the pending lawsuit and ongoing investigation, and a spokesperson said, "NJ Transit declines to comment due to pending litigation."
The NTSB is also investigating.