Phone, E-Mail, Twitter: NTSB, Metro-North Reach Out

The National Transportation Safety Board has been front and center in the media since a forensics team arrived Wednesday morning at the grade crossing where a commuter train collided with an SUV in Mount Pleasant in Metro-North’s deadliest crash.

But they’ve also been reaching out—to riders of Tuesday’s 5:45 express to Chappaqua, to people who witnessed the crash, and to anyone affected by the accident.

The MTA and Metro-North have set up a family assistance hotline—718-361-2402—which NTSB vice-president Robert Sumwalt announced during a briefing yesterday, asking the media to please publicize it.

He also thanked the media for publicizing the dedicated email account set up for this crash: witness@ntsb.org.

“We’ve also been interviewing other witnesses and some of the sources of information for that have come through our email address, witness@ntsb.com,” he said. “People are contacting us and we are following up.”

For people who had loved ones who may have been affected by the accident, Metro-North has also established a family assistance center at the Office of the Westchester County Medical Examiner, 10 Dana Road, Valhalla. Information also is available at 1-800-METRO-INFO (800-638-7646).

The Metro-North Twitter account @MetroNorth, with 32,303 followers, has always been active.

Sumwalt has publicized the NTSB’s Twitter account @NTSB, which has 83,926 followers, since the team arrived at the wreckage, keeping the public up-to-date with the progress of the investigation and using it to inform the media of upcoming press briefings.