Is this sentence a comma splice?

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14 Sep 2014
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I was reading The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins and I noticed this sentence which I think it might a comma splice. Both are independent clauses and need a semi-colon or a full stop.

"It could have been left behind by the engineers who work this part of the track, they’re here often enough."
 
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Caporegime
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I'd have semi-colon'd that, but it's one of those that could reasonably be either. I want to know if the engineer referred to was chartered or just a technician. If they're leaving tools behind, I'm guessing the latter.
 
Associate
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The clause 'they're here often enough' can stand on it's own as a sentence and that makes it an independent clause which makes the whole quote an example of a comma splice.
 
Permabanned
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I would have thought the fact that they used a comma indicates that the two statements are not independent clauses in this case. They could well have been, in which case a semicolon would have been used.
 
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