Brawl on Train: 16 Ejected From NJ Transit Line on St. Patrick's Day
More than a dozen people were kicked off of a New Jersey Transit train following a brawl on Sunday as the train approached the East Rutherford station after leaving Secaucus, according to NJ Transit.
The express NJ Transit train was traveling northbound on the Bergen/Port Jervis line at 4:20 p.m. when shortly after the train departed, a massive brawl broke out. It forced the train's operator to make an unscheduled stop at the East Rutherford station.
Police removed a total of 16 passengers from the train, NJ Transit spokesman John Durso Jr. told reporters.
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The train resumed service about 20 minutes later, but not until the 16 people were ejected from the train, including two who were issued summons for disorderly conduct, Durso added.
There were no report of any other major injuries, but one person was treated by EMS workers at the scene and there were no other service interruptions due to the unscheduled stop.
In response to the increase in alcohol consumption along various NJ Transit rail lines during the St. Patrick's Day celebrations, the organization decided to ban the consumption of alcohol on its trains this weekend.
It is not clear at this time what led to the massive fight or if alcohol was involved in the melee, but this is not the first time passengers were ejected from NJ Transit trains for fighting.
Most of the NJ Transit System was hit hard by hurricane Sandy last October and transit officials have worked extremely hard to restore all service.
"Rebuilding in the aftermath of Sandy has truly been a team approach … NJ TRANSIT has come a long way in the short time since Sandy devastated our transit infrastructure. Not only has all bus and light rail service been restored, but as of March 24, 97 percent," Executive Director James Weinstein previously said in a statement.
"I want to again express my thanks to our hundreds of thousands of daily customers, for their patience and understanding while NJ Transit, and, indeed, the entire State of New Jersey continues to rebuild after Sandy," he added.
