Man killed in NJ Transit accident was an Amtrak employee

The victim of a fatal NJ Transit incident on Tuesday morning, prompting service interruptions and delays, was an Amtrak employee.

Amtrak spokesman Craig Schulz said the adult male was struck by an eastbound NJ Transit train around 4:45 a.m. west of the Jersey Avenue station in New Brunswick. Amtrak has not disclosed the identity of the man pending notification of his family.

"The circumstances are under investigation but they were out there in front of a work gang," Schultz said. NJ Transit, New Brunswick Police and Amtrak Police all responded to the incident and are involved with the investigation.

NJ Transit said that 300 passengers were on board and were transferred to another train to continue their trip. No other injuries were reported in the incident.

The investigation and clean up led to an early morning half-hour shutdown of the Northeast Corridor between Trenton and Metropark in both directions. It reopened around 6:15 p.m. but led to delays of at least 60 minutes for both NJ Transit and Amtrak passengers.

Amtrak owns the tracks used by NJ Transit on the Northeast Corridor and is responsible for its maintenance.