NJT: Safety upgrades finished at 12 stations BY KARL VILACOBA Staff Writer A fence at Aberdeen-Matawan Train Station directs pedestrians in front of a safety gate. Similar fencing is either installed or will be at 33 stations by 2007. BELMAR - NJ Transit has made progress on a project meant to protect riders from a danger they might never see coming. Middletown, Aberdeen-Matawan and Hazlet are among a dozen rail stations where new equipment has been installed to prevent pedestrians from walking into the path of a moving train. In total, 33 stations will receive upgrades through a $3 million project called the Customer Safety Fencing Program, according to NJ Transit Executive Director George Warrington. The stations selected for the project all have one safety risk in common - a road that crosses over two or more tracks to the adjacent passenger platform. The new fences, pylons and signs were designed to channel arriving passengers directly in front of the gates, bells and flashing lights that warn of an oncoming train, rather than allowing them to walk around the gates or over the tracks. According to NJ Transit officials, accidents and fatalities have occurred when pedestrians failed to obey the gates and lights. "In each place, these changes are being tailored to the geography and physical aspects of the station," Belmar Mayor Ken Pringle said at a press conference Thursday updating progress on the program. The event was held symbolically on the platform of Belmar Train Station. About three months earlier on that site, a teenage girl was severely injured after she got off a train, walked around it and was hit by an adjacent train leaving the station, said Pringle, who is also a NJ Transit Board of Directors member. "Almost immediately after that incident, New Jersey Transit began mobilizing its engineers to prevent [incidents like that] ... from ever happening again," Pringle said. Within a week of the accident, Warrington said the safety of about 60 stations with similar designs were evaluated. Of the 33 stations chosen for upgrades, 12 are complete, work is in progress at four and work is still being planned for 17. The enhancements are expected to be finished by the close of 2007, Warrington said. North Jersey Coast Line stations where work has been deemed finished include Belmar, Aberdeen-Matawan, Asbury Park, Hazlet, Manasquan, Middletown, Point Pleasant, Red Bank (addition signs to be installed soon) and South Amboy. Among the stations on the line where work is still being planned are Little Silver, Allenhurst, Bradley Beach, Monmouth Park, Bayhead and Spring Lake.