NTSB investigating NJ Transit River Line train crash that left 1 dead and 23 injured

A New Jersey Transit River Line train operator was killed and 23 passengers were injured in Burlington County early Monday when the train ran into a chunk of tree on the tracks, the transportation agency said.

Shortly after 6 a.m., a train traveling southbound from Trenton struck the tree in Mansfield Township, near the light-rail line’s Roebling station, NJ Transit said in a statement. The train was carrying 42 passengers at the time. Injuries were described as not life-threatening, paramedics treated people at a staging area off Route 130 and some were evaluated at two Virtua hospitals.

Photos of the scene taken from above show the window of the first car smashed in and part of the tree debris lying underneath the train.

The train operator has not been publicly identified.

The National Transportation Safety Board confirmed Monday night that it had investigators at the scene earlier in the day and that a preliminary report on the accident was expected in about 30 days.

For all of Tuesday, service on the River Line will be suspended between Florence Station and the Trenton Transit Center, NJ Transit Spokesperson John Chartier said in an email late Monday night.

Buses will provide service between the stations, Chartier said.

“River LINE personnel will be continuing to make necessary track repairs and, in an abundance of caution, we will continue to thoroughly evaluate the area around the vicinity of Monday’s accident before resuming regular service between Florence and Trenton,” Chartier said.

It was unclear how the tree wound up on the tracks or how long it had been there.

The 34-mile River Line connects Trenton and Camden, running parallel to the Delaware River.

Norris Young, who told NBC10 he was a passenger onboard, said the train hit “a gigantic tree” in the crash.

“There was a tree on the track, I don’t know if it fell on the track or if it was just laying on the track,” Young said.

He said he had seen people shaken up or with open wounds; one passenger was taken away on a stretcher he said..

“It was like a movie,” Young said. “I’m still shaken up. Somebody lost their life.”