Subway and Train Accident

Published on: May 14, 2015

Amtrak train was going at more than 100 miles an hour while the speed limit was 50mph before to derail in the curve; the number of death raised to 7 and the number of injuries to more than 200

Preliminary data show that the Amtrak train crash that killed 7 people and injured more than 200 others was related to speeding.

The train was traveling at a speed of 106 miles per hour just before the curve (see picture) while it should have been traveling at 50 mph. The train engineer, 32 year old Brandon Bostian from Queens, NYC, applied the emergency breaks “just moments’ before the train derailed.

The engineer didn’t provide much information to the police and his lawyer said he has no explanation for the crash.

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Published on: May 14, 2015

Positive Train Control safety features would have prevented the Amtrak train crash as well as the previous Metro North Train accident that happened in New York in 2013

By GGCRBHS&M

The Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 was passed by Congress 1 month after 25 people died in a train crash in L.A. Investigators found that just before the accident, the train engineer who was texting on his cell phone missed a signal indicating that a freight train was ahead of him on the same track and that he shouldn’t have proceeded on this track. The train crashed at full speed in the freight train killing 25 people and injuring many of the 300 passengers on board. 5 weeks after the accident, the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 was passed by Congress, requiring that all trains be equipped with positive train control system by the end of 2015.

Positive Train Control is a basic crash avoidance system that monitors speed limits and track signals electronically and signal to the engineer if something is wrong. If the engineer doesn’t respond to the signal, the Positive Train Control system automatically takes over and decrease the speed or stop the train.

The rail industry has been pushing hard to delay the upgrade and have been trying to push the end of 2015 deadline even further. If the railroad industry had been more proactive and the system had been implemented immediately after the Rail Safety Improvement Act was passed, train accidents such as the Amtrak Accident (see previous blog) that happened two days ago and killed 7 people as well the Metro-North derailment that happened in New York in 2013 and killed 4 passengers could have been avoided.

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Published on: May 13, 2015

6 people dead and more than 100 injured in an Amtrak train accident

By GGCRBHS&M

An Amtrak train heading from New York to Washington DC derailed yesterday night in Philadelphia. 6 people died and many the 243 passengers of suffered personal injury and were taken to the hospital. Among the people injured 6 of them were in critical condition. The Amtrak accident happened yesterday night around 9:30 close to Frankford Avenue and Wheatsheaf Lane near a bend in the track. One of the nation’s deadliest railroad accidents happened in the same spot on Labor Day 1943. A train carrying military service members on leave derailed killing 79 of them and injuring 117. The cause of yesterday’s train accident is still unknown. Speed as well deteriorating infrastructure and aging equipment are among the potential factors to be investigated. Former Congressman Patrick J. Murphy was on board when the accident happened and tweeted the pictures on the left.
Read more about this train accident in the New York Times

Published on: February 26, 2015

The National Transportation Safety Board just released a preliminary report on the fatal Metro-North train accident that happened 3 weeks ago

By GGCRBHS&M

A preliminary report related to the accident between a northbound Metro-North Railroad passenger train and a 2011 Mercedes Benz ML350 sports utility vehicle (SUV) that killed six people in Valhalla, NY was published a few days ago by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The accident happened on February 3rd 2015 . The report indicates that witnesses saw the SUV stopped on the railroad crossing before the gate went down. As the gate lowered it fell on the back of the car. The driver exited the car, looked at the back and went back in the car. She then proceeded to drive forward when she was struck by the train. The driver of the train operated the emergency brake 300 feet before the collision and hit the SUV at a speed of 49mph. As the train and the car continued to travel northbound, a dozen large pieces of the electrified third rail detached, piercing the SUV, tearing into the first passenger car in two locations and setting it on fire. The preliminary report doesn’t provide any information on how and why the third rail pieces were able to detach. Furthermore according to the NTSB the warning lights, alarms and gate arms were functioning however the accident has prompted new attention to the safety of such crossings around the New York City region. Read more in the New York Times

Published on: November 17, 2014

Man died in New York Subway accident

By GGCRBHS&M

A man was fatally struck by a subway after he fell on the track in the Bronx, NYC, last week. The victim was hit by the southbound 6 train at the St. Lawrence Ave. station about 6:15 a.m., officials said. The police are still investigating the cause of the accident.

Thankfully nobody was injured in a terrifying NYC construction accident during which a giant drill bit pierced the F train tunnel and sliced the top and the side of a train with 800 passengers on board

By GGCRBHS&M

A contractor who was supposed to expand a construction well as part of the MTA East Side Access project used a massive drill bit at the wrong location and pierced a F train tunnel at the same time as the train was passing by. The drill bit cut the top and the side of the train triggering the train’s emergency brakes. It’s a miracle that nobody was injured.

The MTA East Side Access Project is a mega construction project from the MTA to bring Long Island Rail Road trainsto Grand Central Station. The contractor has been identified as Griffin Dewatering New England Inc.

The accident happened near the 21st St subway station In Long Island City, Queens, NYC.

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Published on: October 28, 2014

NTSB investigation in the deadly Metro North train accident indicates that the train operator suffered severe undiagnosed sleep apnea and that he had fallen asleep when the train hit the curb at a speed of 82 mph instead of the 30 mph speed limit

By GGCRBHS&M

The Metro North Train accident that killed 4 people and injured at least 61 on December 1st 2013 was caused by the engineer’s noncompliance with the 30-mph speed restriction because he had fallen asleep due to undiagnosed severe obstructive sleep apnea exacerbated by a recent circadian rhythm shift required by his work schedule.

According to a report released Today by the National Transportation Safety Board, the accident could have been avoided if Metro North and the Federal Railroad Administration had a policy requiring medical screening for sleep disorders and if the train was equipped with a system that would have automatically applied the brakes to enforce the speed restriction.

The NTSB also released Today the following Metro North train accident reports:

A report on the March 10, 2014 train accident during which an electrician was fatally struck by a train in Manhattan, New York
A report on the July 18,2013 accident during which a train transporting municipal refuse derailed in the Bronx, New York
A report on the May 28, 2013 accident during which a track foreman was struck and killed by a train in West Haven, Connecticut
A report on the May 17, 2013 accident during which two trains collided, injuring at least 65 passengers in Bridgeport, Connecticut

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Published on: October 9, 2014

Maspeth residents fear for their safety after a train derailes on Eliot Ave and 60th Lane in Maspeth, Queens, NYC

By GGCRBHS&M

Nobody was injured in a train accident in Maspeth, Queens, NYC, during which a Long Island Rail Road Locomotive jumped the tracks and spilled diesel fuel. The locomotive was on a freight line, coming from Jamaica going to Long Island City when the accident happened. The line is only used for freight such as large containers of garbage and to move equipment. According to the NY Daily News, residents who live near the tracks are concerned about repeated train accidents along the freight rail lines in Maspeth, Middle Village and Glendale.

Published on: August 28, 2014

To prevent potential train accidents in New York a panel of experts recommends that the MTA create a better data system to monitor track conditions, adjust schedules to provide more time for track work and improve the safety culture at Metro North

By GGCRBHS&M

A blue ribbon panel of transportation experts that was created after the deadly Metro North train Accident in New York to study safety and maintenance practices at MTA’s three railroad operations (Metro-North Railroad, the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) and New York City Transit) released its recommendations yesterday.

Rail conditions are a main concern at all three railroad operations and the panel recommends that the MTA implement a data system that would allow not only the monitoring of all track elements through their life cycle but also the integration of inspection data. The panel also proposed creating a confidential close-call reporting system for the Metro-North and the LIRR.

The panel also recommends improving the safety culture within Metro-North and to adjust schedules to allow more time for track maintenance and repair.

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Published on: August 11, 2014

To prevent death and personal injury related to subway accidents the MTA is testing several “track intrusion” detection systems

By GGCRBHS&M

Last year in New York 151 people were struck by subway trains and 53 of them died. There are many reasons why people are being injured or killed by a train: they fall on the tracks after feeling ill, they are pushed by someone else, they loose something on the track and try to go pick it up or they jump in front of the train to commit suicide. To stop the staggering amount of injuries and deaths happening on its tracks, the MTA is testing sensors and video systems that would prevent people who fall on the tracks to be struck by a train. The systems use high-tech devices to alert the driver if someone falls on the tracks. The tests look promising and the MTA executives are planning to install such systems in subway stations between 2015 and 2019.