More than 100 people were injured, some critically, when a commuter train ploughed into Hoboken station, a New Jersey Transit spokeswoman has said.
The train from New York crashed during the Thursday morning rush hour.
It caused serious damage to both the train and station. Witnesses reported injuries, including one woman who was trapped under concrete and many people bleeding.
The spokeswoman, Jennifer Nelson, says she does not know yet how fast the train was going when it ran into the rail bumper at the end of the line.
Ms Nelson continued: “We have multiple injuries, multiple critical injuriesright now. The terminal is shut down.”
TV footage and photos from the scene show damage to the rail car and extensive structural damage to the Hoboken station.
Nancy Bido, a passenger on the train, told WNBC-TV in New York that train did not slow as it pulled into the station.
“It just never stopped. It was going really fast and the terminal was basically the brake for the train,” she said.
The train came to a halt in a covered area between the station’s indoor waiting area and the platform. A metal structure covering the area collapsed.
The train had left Spring Valley, New York, at 7:23am and crashed into Hoboken Terminal at 8:45am, said NJ Transit spokeswoman Nancy Snyder.
She said authorities are investigating what might have caused the train to crash.
The National Transportation Safety Board was opening an investigation into the crash and will send a team of investigators to the scene, said Keith Holloway, a spokesman for the board.
The Federal Railroad Administration also dispatched investigators to the crash scene, said spokesman Matthew Lehner.
Rail service was suspended in and out of Hoboken, which is directly across the Hudson River from New York City.
The station is a hub for commuters switching from the NJ Transit system to the Path system to head into Manhattan.
Hoboken, which is NJ Transit’s fifth-busiest stations with 15,000 boardings per weekday, is the final stop for several train lines and a transfer point for many commuters on their way to New York City.
New Jersey Gov Chris Christie said that no one is believed to be trapped on the commuter train. The governor said that he, New York Gov Andrew Cuomo, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and New Jersey Transit are coordinating on the response.
