Tensions were high at a public meeting Tuesday night in Palmyra, as South Jersey residents repeatedly voiced their frustrations with new Jersey Transit's River line for late and canceled trains, dangerous track crossings, crime and, more recently, fatal accidents.

State Senator Troy Singleton called the meeting, which included presentations from top NJT officials.

It all comes just weeks after a train operator was killed and dozens of passengers were injured.

Ted Goldberg reports.

It starts with a conversation and then progress is made.

The hope is progress can be made after a crash of a River line light rail train that killed someone and injured more than 20 other people last week.

At a public meeting last night, NJ transit officials said the hybrid line has faced cutbacks and safety concerns over the past few years.

And they outlined the issues they've had with the custom made diesel powered cars.

This is a fleet that, as you identify, the obsolescence that exists in 20 year old vehicles that are literally the only ones in the world you have to identify what's the problem.

You have to engineer a solution, and you literally have to manufacture the part.

But there's no place you can go to buy it.

Mike Kilcoyne gave a presentation explaining why the 20 year old trains frequently break down, blaming excessive heat leading to equipment failure.

He said the trains are being repaired or replaced over the next few years, but the turnaround time for these custom parts is 39 weeks.

Riders and former riders weren't thrilled to hear all this.

I promised my daughter Kate, that I would mention that this summer she was stranded in Camden and Rutgers Station and 90 degree plus heat at seven months pregnant.

My wife was pregnant last year.

She was going on a train.

She fainted in the River line because because of no air.

And there was no AC running.

Being in business casual suit in 85-90 degree heat.

Waiting for almost between an hour and an hour or half a year, and you would have train canceled again and again and again.

The crowd included the family of Matthew Dickinson, a 15-year old who was struck and killed by a River line train in Palmyra this past summer.

As we sit and speak about timeliness and timeliness and delays, it's troubling to see the rate of speed at which the train travels through.

Outdated technology has gotten major signal problems at this end of the line.

Gates come down when there's no trains, and then gates don't come down when there are trains.

And it's a miracle that you don't have more vehicles.

I live in Riverton.

There is no fence along that river line.

Zero on the side of Palmyra.

I think we need fencing on both sides of Broad Street.

Residents are also demanding more answers as to why a downed tree wasn't removed last week, resulting in the death of operator Jessica Haley.

State Senator Troy Singleton said he couldn't answer specifics about her because the National Transportation Safety Board is investigating.

It's my hope that when that investigation comes forth and lays out this information, we'll have a better understanding of actually what occurred and more importantly, how we can prevent it from moving happening again.

Residents who came to Tuesday's meeting were also angry about unreliable service.

It is a bit of a joke where I no longer need coffee because I have enough cortisol and safety on the trains.

Bike theft and vandalism at stations is a problem, especially where I am at Beverley Edgewater Park.

I've had my bike stolen there.

My sons had two bikes stolen there.

There's things that make this system unique.

There's no excuse for not providing good, reliable service.

But, you know, I would say going through the pandemic and then the will just to supply where we could not get the parts that we needed, was impacted by, you know, the aftermath of the pandemic.

NJ Transit President Kevin Corbett has been hammered all summer after raising fares 15% across the board.

On Tuesday, he heard more criticism about safety concerns.

You know, Kevin, it starts with you.

So my first suggestion would be to look in the mirror and see, you know, what can you do different?

Because you've been in the seat since 2018.

Get leadership has changed according to your side.

So you're still sitting here.

This is very upsetting for me.

I'm sorry, but I think it's very shortsighted that we do not have these solutions in place, that we have an unsafe rail line for our children to play and to go to school.

NJ transit contracts the river Line to Alstom, a private company.

The River line has the lowest reliability of New Jersey's light transit lines.

And the angry folks who turned out Tuesday evening are hoping something can change in Palmyra.

I'm Ted Goldberg, NJ Spotlight News.