Metro North Engineer in 2013 Bronx Derailment Avoids Charges

Written by LANNING TALIAFERRO (Patch Staff)

The Bronx District Attorney’s Office announced yesterday that there would be no charges filed against the sleepy engineer on the Hudson Line who took a 30-mph curve at 80 mph, derailing near Spuyten Duyvil and killing four.

Four people died and 70 were injured.

“There will be no criminal charges filed against William Rockefeller because there was no finding of criminality,” said Terry Raskyn, spokeswoman for the Bronx District Attorney’s Office.

The decision, which had been made some time ago, was announced as the investigation continues into the fatal Amtrak derailment in Philadelphia that killed eight. That train was also traveling far above the speed marked at the curve where it derailed.

• Related: Gov. Cuomo: ‘Any Parties Involved in Derailment Will Be Held Accountable

Jeffrey Chartier, the attorney for the Metro North engineer, told the New York Timesyesterday that he believed the 2013 crash was at heart a series of failures on the MTA’s part for not catching Rockefeller’s sleep disorder and for lack of safety measures on the system.

After the 2013 crash, a subsequent “Operation Deep Dive” study of the commuter railroad by the Federal Railroad Administration said an overemphasis on preventing delays along the commuter railroad’s money-making main line led Metro-North officialsto routinely put on-time performance well ahead of safety practices and concerns.

In response, MTA officials began a sweeping improvement program, including adding the kind of ‘positive train control’ technology that could also have prevented or mitigated the Philadelphia tragedy.

Also on Patch:

• Union Rep: Train Engineer ‘Nodded Off’
• Metro North To Test All Engineers for Sleep Apnea
• Deep Dive Report Confirms Our Worst Fears About Metro North
• Panel Offers More Tips for Improving Metro North Safety
• Two Months After Scathing Safety Report, Metro North Announces Reforms
• Deadly Train Crash Puts the Spotlight on Metro-North’s Recent Safety Record -- Again
• MTA to Improve Safety on Metro North with $967.1 Million Federal Loan

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