Latest Fatality as NY Starts Study of Train Grade Crossings

New York's latest at-grade-crossing fatality — one person dead after a Long Island Rail Road train hit a car at a grade crossing in Brentwood Monday night — comes at the beginning of a 3-month state evaluation of all the places where roads cross tracks.

The state is doing a comprehensive review of all 5,304 at-grade crossings, prioritizing the most dangerous ones and exploring new safety measures.

The information will give New York State the ability to provide a proper and professional evaluation on where the faulty rail lines are and how much it would cost to fix them, said State Sen. David Carlucci (D Rockland-Westchester), who sponsored the bill in the Senate.

The latest crash involved a non-passenger equipment train, which hit an unauthorized vehicle on the LIRR tracks in Brentwood around 8 p.m.

The deadliest crash in Metro North Railroad’s history took place at an at-grade crossing in Mount Pleasant in 2015. At 6:30 p.m. Feb. 3, a packed commuter train smashed into a Jeep Cherokee that had driven into its path. As the train pushed the SUV about 500 feet down the track a broken segment of the electrified third rail sliced up through the first train car, which burst into flames.

Three of the six dead had ties to New Castle and within two weeks that town government had begun asking for an overpass to be built at their grade crossing.

A month later, Cuomo touted eliminating seven grade-crossings on the Long Island Railroad as part of a massive project to expand the LIRR.

Now New York is evaluating all 5,304 grade crossings, including commuter, long-distance passenger and freight lines. The state will also examine:

• The safety of level-grade crossings and the feasibility of implementing design changes to increase safety and to reduce the likelihood of obstructions
• The adequacy of traffic and pedestrian warning signals
• Any federal funding available for safety improvement projects;
• The feasibility of equipping commuter trains with technology to increase safety
• Which level grade rail crossings are considered to be the most dangerous throughout the state

State Assemblyman Tom Abinanti, who sponsored the bill in the Assembly, said the report is due to the governor and the legislature on or before April 1.

SEE:

• One Person Dead After LIRR Train Strikes Car
• NY to Evaluate, Prioritize Dangerous Rail Crossings
  

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