From:
de-blasfail@nyc.com
XPost: nyc.politics, soc.women, sac.politics
XPost: alt.society.liberalism
A New York commuter train struck an SUV on the tracks in a
suburban New York City community Tuesday night, killing the
driver of the car and six passengers on board the train, New
York Governor Andrew Cuomo said in a press conference.
The northbound Metro-North Railroad train struck a Jeep Cherokee
in Valhalla, 20 miles south of New York City, railroad spokesman
Aaron Donovan said. Seven were killed in the accident marking
the crash as the railroadAs deadliest.
"You have seven people who started out today to go about their
business and aren't going to be making it home tonight," Cuomo
said.
The railroad crossing gates had come down on top of the SUV,
which had stopped on the train tracks, Donovan said. The driver
got out to inspect the vehicle and got back into it to drive
away when it was struck, he said.
The train shoved the SUV about 10 train car lengths. Smoke
poured out of the scorched front rail car, its windows blackened.
"I was trapped. You know there was people in front of me and
behind me, and I was trapped in the middle of a car and it was
getting very hot," he told ABC News. "All the air was turned off
so there was no circulation so it was definitely scary
especially when people are walking by on the outside and they
said, 'The train's on fire. There's a fire.'"
Passenger Stacey Eisner, who was at the rear of the train, told
NBC News that she felt the train "jerk" and then a conductor
walked through the train explaining what had happened. She said
her train car was evacuated about 10 minutes later using ladders
to get people out.
The other rail passengers were moved to the rear of the train,
which had left Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan 45 minutes
earlier.
More than 750 passengers were likely aboard the train. About 400
passengers got off from the rear of the train and taken to a
rock climbing gym for shelter. Buses were headed there to pick
them up and take them to their destinations.
All railroad grade crossings have gate arms that are designed to
lift automatically if they strike a vehicle no the way down,
railroad safety consultant Grady Cothen said. The arms are made
of wood and are designed to be easily broken if a car trapped
between them moves forward or backward, he said.
Metro-North is the nation's second-busiest railroad, after the
Long Island Rail Road. It was formed in 1983 and serves about
280,000 riders a day in New York and Connecticut.
Metro-North is the nation's second-busiest railroad, after the
Long Island Rail Road. It was formed in 1983 and serves about
280,000 riders a day in New York and Connecticut. Service on its
Harlem Line was suspended between Pleasantville and North White
Plains after the crash.
Metro-North has had many recent accidents. Late last year, the
National Transportation Safety Board issued rulings on five
accidents that occurred in New York and Connecticut in 2013 and
2014, repeatedly finding fault with the railroad while also
noting that conditions have improved.
Among the accidents was a Dec. 1, 2013, derailment that killed
four people, the railroad's first passenger fatalities, in the
Bronx. The NTSB said the engineer had fallen asleep at the
controls because he had a severe, undiagnosed case of sleep
apnea.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/02/03/at-least-12-hurt-after-ny- commuter-train-hits-car-report-says/
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