Hoboken train crash: What we know and what we don’t know

As the situation in Hoboken, New Jersey, continues to develop after a commuter train slammed into the station during the morning rush on Thursday, here are the facts that are known so far.

What we know

• NJ Transit train No. 1614, on the Pascack Valley line, crashed into the Hoboken rail station at about 8:45 a.m., after running off the end of its track.
• A Hoboken woman who was standing on the platform, identified as Fabiola Bittar de Kroon, was killed by debris. More than 100 people were injured.
• The train engineer, identified by New Jersey Transit as Thomas Gallagher, a 29-year employee, was released from the hospital, and is cooperating with the investigation.
• NJ Transit service to Hoboken remained suspended late Thursday. PATH service between Hoboken and New York City has been fully restored.
• The train, carrying 250 people, was traveling at a high rate of speed, officials said.
• The National Transportation Safety Board did expect to retrieve the train’s “black box” event recorder, which contains information on the train’s speed, Thursday.
• The NTSB will also investigate whether positive train control — the federally mandated crash prevention technology that is supposed to be in place on all railroads by 2018 — could have prevented the crash.
• New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo visited the crash site Thursday afternoon.
• In 2011, a similar crash injured more than 30 people at the same station; an investigation showed the engineer failed to control the train’s speed. In 1985, another similar crash injured 54 people; the crash was blamed on residue of slippery gel that was left on the tracks after routine testing.

What we don’t know

• The exact nature of injuries sustained by the victims.
• What caused the crash.
• Exactly how fast the train was going.
• The structural integrity of the station, or when it might reopen for NJ Transit service.