Before Fatal Crash, New Jersey Transit Experienced an Exodus of Rail Managers

NJ Transit lost a quarter of its railroad managers in the two years prior to a fatal 2016 crash in Hoboken, according to a document the agency sent federal regulators.

The exodus squeezed the agency from both sides: As 49 of the NJ Transit's most senior rail supervisors retired between January 2014 and July 2016, a group of younger potential replacements, including some who were considered rising stars, left the agency for jobs from Connecticut to Florida. 

The Record and NorthJersey.com obtained the list through a Freedom of Information Act request to the Federal Railroad Administration. A total of 93 managers left NJ Transit from January 2014 to July 2016. There were 376 rail management positions then.