Free Tickets For College Student Who Woke Up Aboard NJ TRANSIT Train In Yard
HIGHLANDS, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- NJ TRANSIT said Friday that it is giving free tickets to a college student who fell asleep on a train and ended up alone in a yard.
Claire Connelly, 18, had come back home to New Jersey from Florida to escape Hurricane Irma. She said she fell asleep on an NJ TRANSIT train on the final leg of her journey – and ended up locked in a train yard.
The Florida Gulf Coast University student had gotten on the train around 4 p.m. Wednesday, heading to where she thought was Middletown near her parents' home in Highlands.
But she dozed off while studying and woke up some 40 miles away in Raritan.
She found herself all alone on board – in a train yard.
"I started freaking out and I was like: 'What am I doing here? Why? Why didn't I get off the train? Why didn't anyone wake me up?'" she said.
She said after about 20 minutes, she called 911, and less than 20 minutes later, the police got her out. Her parents came and picked her up in Raritan, just before 6 p.m.
Connelly said she posted the video on Twitter while driving home. NJ TRANSIT then responded, writing, "Hello, are you still on the train?"
"I was like, no. I had to call the police, but thank you," Connelly said.
NJ TRANSIT said Friday that it was giving Connelly free tickets and was investigating the incident.
Connelly called the whole thing a big mistake and said she has no hard feelings.
