Nj Transit

An $8.15 million study of a proposed commuter rail line between Glassboro and Camden, delayed for two years, was approved Wednesday by the Delaware River Port Authority board. South Jersey political and business leaders turned out in force to champion the 18-mile light-rail line as an engine of economic development and a way to link the campuses of Rowan and Rutgers-Camden Universities. "This is the commitment that is going to move this project forward," state Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D., Gloucester)

An $8.1 million study of a proposed commuter rail line between Glassboro and Camden was approved by the Delaware River Port Authority board on Wednesday, ending a two-year delay. South Jersey political and business leaders turned out in force to champion the 18-mile light-rail line as an engine of economic development and a way to link the campuses of Rowan University and Rutgers-Camden. "This is the commitment that is going to move this project forward," State Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D., Gloucester)

In an effort to reduce fatal train-pedestrian accidents, NJ Transit will increase police patrols at high-risk locations and step up education efforts, state Transportation Commissioner James Simpson said Wednesday. The Inquirer reported last week that at least 91 pedestrians were killed by trains on NJ Transit and SEPTA lines in 2010 and 2011. Many of those who died intended to take their own lives, often to the horror of train engineers, passengers, and bystanders. Others were crossing or walking along tracks, apparently oblivious to approaching trains.

In an effort to reduce fatal train-pedestrian accidents, NJ Transit will increase police patrols at high-risk locations and step up public-education efforts, state transportation commissioner James Simpson said Wednesday. The Inquirer reported last week that at least 91 pedestrians were killed by trains on NJ Transit and SEPTA lines in 2010 and 2011. Many of those who died intended to take their own lives, often to the horror of train engineers, passengers, and bystanders.

Diesel fuel from an underground supply line at a NJ Transit bus depot tainted about four miles of waterway in Washington and Gloucester Townships before emergency crews contained it Thursday. Roughly 26,000 gallons of diesel fuel from the ruptured underground line seeped into a storm drain and a stream leading to Grenloch Lake, which is in Washington Township and Gloucester Township, and into Blackwood Lake in Gloucester Township, said Larry Hajna, a spokesman with the state Department of Environmental Protection.

Diesel fuel from an underground supply line at a NJ Transit bus depot tainted about four miles of waterway in Washington and Gloucester Townships before emergency crews contained it Thursday. Roughly 26,000 gallons of diesel fuel from the ruptured underground line seeped into a storm drain and a stream leading to Grenloch Lake, which is in Washington Township and Gloucester Township, and into Blackwood Lake in Gloucester Township, said Lawrence Hajna, a spokesman with the state Department of Environmental Protection.

PENNSYLVANIA Crash victim ID'd A man who was hit by a car and killed on the Schuylkill Expressway in Montgomery County yesterday afternoon was identified by state police as Joseph McHenrey, of Drexel Hill. Police said McHenrey climbed over a concrete median in Upper Merion Township about 1:45 p.m. holding a gas can. He was trying to cross the eastbound expressway to get to the right shoulder of the road. Meanwhile, Robert Clark, of Downingtown, was driving his white Toyota Tundra pickup truck about 50 mph, pulling a single-axle trailer and heading toward McHenrey, police said.

An unidentified man was struck and killed by a New Jersey Transit train in Pennsauken shortly before 5 p.m. The circumstances under which the man was hit by the train were unclear, said New Jersey Transit spokesman John Durso. The train was heading to Philadelphia from Atlantic City when it struck the victim near the Church Road crossing. Approximately 30 passengers were on board, but none was reported injured. Service on the Atlantic City Line has been suspended indefinitely, while the incident is investigated.

With assaults on bus drivers increasing, many transit agencies are installing shields to protect drivers from their customers. NJ Transit has put shields in 10 buses and is adding 55 in a pilot project to see if they work well enough to be installed across the fleet. Shields also have been installed or are being tested by agencies in New York City; Chicago; Washington; Rochester, N.Y.; Seattle; and other cities. In the Philadelphia area, SEPTA officials and leaders of the drivers' union are skeptical that the shields provide enough protection to offset operators' concerns about comfort and the ability to get out quickly in an emergency.

Aid abuse victims I am very saddened by Archbishop Charles Chaput's comments about statutes of limitation regarding the sexual abuse of children ("Chaput says Philadelphia school closings concern parishioners most," Oct. 28). In opposing reform the archbishop appears to be willing, in effect, to deny access to justice to all abuse victims, not just the small percentage who have been exploited by priests. This is hardly what one expects from a religious leader. Child abuse is an epidemic that grows daily, taking a human and financial toll on the resources of both the state and the private organizations helping victims.