Official: NJ Transit will finish mandated braking system on time

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - New Jersey Transit's executive director says the agency will meet a December 2018 federal deadline for installing an emergency braking system, despite lagging other passenger railroads on progress.

Steve Santoro said Wednesday that NJ Transit won't ask for a waiver to go past the deadline to install Positive Train Control.

Investigators are looking at the lack of the braking system as a potential factor in a September 2016 crash in Hoboken that killed one person and injured more than 100 others.

The Federal Railroad Administration's website shows passenger railroads in other states are further along than NJ Transit. Those states include New York, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts.

NJ Transit officials say they've made steady progress, starting with an approval in October to lease radio frequency for the GPS-based system.