NJ Transit lost a quarter of its rail managers in 2 years before Hoboken crash, documents show

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 to federal regulators.

The exodus squeezed the agency from both sides: As 49 of 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 railmanagement positions then.

The names of the 93 managers who left the agency were redacted from the documents The Record received. However, the documents do show the titles, departments and years of experience they had.

Some employees had been with the agency for only a few years. Others had been there since its creation in 1979.

The list backs up public testimony from former agency officials who say a drain of institutional memory from the country's third-largest commuter agency may have contributed to operational and safety problems.

The list was sent to federal regulators two months before a crash at the Hoboken Terminal killed one woman and injured 110. It was NJ Transit's first fatal rail accident in 20 years.

NJ Transit operates one of the country's busiest commuter railroads, carrying more than