State lawmakers investigating New Jersey’s troubled commuter railroad are focusing on slow progress toward a deadline to install crash-prevention technology. In Sept. 18 subpoenas sent to New Jersey Transit’s records custodian and its executive director, Steve Santoro, the elected officials seek documents regarding an emergency braking system that Congress requires on passenger and freight railroads by Dec. 31, 2018. Santoro in April told a joint state judiciary and legislative oversight panel that the agency, a crucial link to New York City jobs, will meet deadline. In June, though, the Federal Railroad Administration had “areas of concern based on the railroad’s reported progress,” according to correspondence obtained by Bloomberg under public-records law. Though some train operators may be granted a two-year extension, the railroad administration said NJ Transit may not qualify because it was falling behind on such areas as hardware installation and employee training. The agency has “every expectation” that it will meet deadline for the project, called positive train control, according to spokeswoman Nancy Snyder. “We work daily to keep the work on PTC progressing, and key management staff and forces in the field are continuously added to deliver the project on time,” Snyder said in an email. Starved of operating funds for decades, NJ Transit leads its peers for accidents, breakdowns and fines, federal data show. Under Governor Chris Christie, the agency has transferred $3.44 billion from its capital budget to cover day-to-day needs while passengers endured two fare increases, increased crowding and unreliable service. A year ago, in NJ Transit’s first fatal wreck since 1996, a locomotive struck a terminal bumper at the Hoboken station, killing a woman on the platform and injuring more than 100 passengers. Safety investigators are examining whether the mandated technology, designed to check excessive speed, would have prevented such a crash. NJ Transit’s second-quarter project report shows it’s acquired radio spectrum and has started to install equipment on locomotives and track segments after it missed 2016 project milestones. Still, an updated plan submitted this year “improperly removed” information on revised milestones, according to an Aug. 24 letter from the Federal Railroad Administration, which gave the agency 30 days to resubmit.