LIRR Mucked Up After Fatal Crash; Car Tried Getting by Gates
Two Long Island Rail Road lines remain suspended Wednesday morning after two trains collided with a vehicle, killing three people and mucking up the commute for thousands of riders.
Service is suspended on the Ronkonkoma and Port Jefferson branches after trains coming from opposite directions hit a vehicle at the School Street crossing trying to get around the flashing safety gates in Westbury, officials said. One of the trains derailed and at least seven other people were injured.
[[506413111, C]]
The MTA is urging commuters on the two lines to use alternate branches Wednesday morning - including the Babylon, Hempstead, Montauk and Oyster Bay lines as crews try to re-rail two cars and fix significant track and platform damage. Scroll down for real-time transit updates.
The vehicle was hit Tuesday evening when an eastbound train was pulling out of the station and then was slammed by a westbound train, MTA officials said at a news briefing. The driver of the vehicle was apparently trying to get around the safety gates when it was struck, killing three people inside.
[[506413091, C]]
Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said the vehicle was "trying to beat the gate" when it was struck just before 7:30 p.m. He said the train headed for Manhattan was going at "full speed" when it crashed.
There were about 100 passengers on the eastbound train, and about 800 passengers on the train heading into Manhattan, officials said. Seven train passengers were taken to the hospital to be checked out, along with an engineer who was "very shaken up" and a conductor, according to MTA President Phillip Eng.
[[506413151, C]]
Gov. Cuomo called for a "full investigation into the collision."
A shuttle was eventually put in place between Hicksville and Babylon, which was helping customers get between the two stations while crews investigated. Most of the damage appears to have occurred on the westbound side.
[[506409711, C]]
The service changes are expected to last into much of the morning commute.
"Until we can remove the train and get further in there, it's not clear how long the repairs will take," Eng said.
Records from the Federal Railroad Administration show there have been four crashes at the School Street crossing in Westbury, most recently in 2009, all involving passenger trains.
[[506413141, C]]
There were no injuries in the October 2009 and May 1981 crashes there. But there was one fatality each in the February 1995 and May 1984 crashes, records show.
[[418243733, C]]
Photo Credit: News 4
This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.
from NBC New York - Top Stories https://ift.tt/2H2d7Oe
No comments: