Train misses stop

WEST WINDSOR, N.J.  November 10, 2009 (WPVI) -- Last night New Jersey transit train 3971 from New York was due to stop at Princeton Junction at 7:00 p.m. to drop off hundreds of commuters on their way home. But instead of doing that, the train just kept on going flying past its scheduled stop.

"It would worry me that was everyone paying attention and doing their job and what they're supposed to do for safety reason," said Lisa Mazzone of Princeton, New Jersey. "Text messaging or sleeping or not paying attention?"

Skipping Princeton Jct., the train stopped instead at the next station in Hamilton, leaving passengers who couldn't get a ride stuck until the next train, about 40 minutes later, could take them back to their intended stop.

"Were they talking? Were they distracted by the telephone or something?" questioned Erica Mclean-Cowan of Ewing, New Jersey.

Commuters like Mclean-Cowan say the train blowing past its stop reminds them of the airline pilots who recently overshot the airport where they were supposed to land by 150 miles.

"Went from Princeton Jct. to Hamilton. I live in Princeton. I don't want to go to Hamilton. So it's not 150 miles but they still missed it. They dropped the ball."

NJ Transit blames the foul-up on a veteran engineer on his first day of a new assignment. Apparently he didn't have to stop at Princeton Junction in his old assignment.

NJT also says: "There was no safety issue whatsoever. All systems were working as intended...It's the equivalent of a person in a car missing their exit..It was an inconvenience to our passengers and we apologize."

The engineer is back on the job. Transit officials say whether he'll be disciplined or not depends on the outcome of an investigation that's now underway.

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