Luz E Lopez Obituary, Death;- Officials have disclosed the identity of a woman who was struck by a New Jersey Transit train in Hackensack on August 7, an event that has reignited a public call for the installation of safety fences along the railroad tracks in the city.
NJ Transit has confirmed that the victim of the train incident on August 7 was Luz E. Lopez, 79, from Hackensack. The event took place just before 10 a.m. near Essex Street Station on the Pascack Valley Line.
According to NJ Transit, there were no injuries reported among the five passengers and crew members aboard the train at the time of the collision.
An online petition initiated by Pedra Del Vechio has described the absence of fencing along the tracks in the neighborhood as “a grave concern that needs immediate attention.” Although it was created in May 2024, it gained renewed traction on social media following the incident on August 7.
“We are urging New Jersey Transit to implement safety fences along these residential railroad tracks,” the petition stated. “This straightforward yet effective measure can greatly diminish the likelihood of accidents and preserve lives.”
The petition is directed to the New Jersey Department of Transportation, the Federal Railroad Administration, and various government officials, in addition to NJ Transit. As of August 11, it had garnered 147 signatures.
The petition references “too many” fatalities involving passenger trains in Hackensack, which includes pedestrian deaths that occurred in May 2025 and October 2020. Other train-related fatalities in North Jersey over the past year have been reported in Newark, Jersey City, Wayne, Rutherford, and Ramsey.
