Two More Transit Workers Killed/Injured in Subway Accident

found at nycjewishnews.com:

Brooklyn Hoyt street and Schermerhorn street * Train Job* 2 people involved one trapped between the platform and train and one under the train 1 worker removed to Bellevue hospital ESU and FDNY in process of removing the DOA from under the train.

This is what happens when you don't close the subway for maintenance. That and it takes five years to get any project completed. Do we really need 24 hour service?

yes. that's why our transit system IS the best in the world.

24/7 trumps a clean subway.

clean? who the hell cares? as long as you get where you need to go, whenever you have to.

The world's only 24 hour system is something you should be proud of. I guess you've never stayed out until 5AM and needed a train to get home.

It's tragic, but the moral of the story is that no matter how many safety precautions are taken, transit work can have an almost unavoidable level of danger. It's not like shuffling papers in a cubicle.

ah, comment got screwed up. sorry for the double post.

"as long as you get where you need to go, whenever you have to."

I don't know what subway system you are riding but when you wait for 45 minutes for a train anytime after 1am, or wait for 20 minutes during rush hour, those are not signs of the best subway system. it should be closed for maitenence for a couple hours per night and replaced with night buses. I'm not sure if ridership is high enough at all hours of the day to warrant 24 hour service.

/rant off

and my regards go out to those killed. poor guys (or gals) were just trying to do their job. condolences to all.

Who the fuck is this asshole who comes out of the woodwork to exploit death by spewing his personal diarrhea of the mouth to get the subway shut down at night. Go back to Boston or wherever the fuck hell hole you are from where the trains still shut down randomly and kill people despite them closing every single day. This is the greatest city in the world. My condolences to the workers' families and having to put up with that dickbag.

The fact that it runs all day is one of the few redeeming factors in the whole system. Changes need to be made, sure, but not such drastic ones.

I guess you've never stayed out until 5AM and needed a train to get home.

And your uninformed assumptions about me make you look so smart. When I do stay out, I sometimes take the subway, sometimes I take to bus, sometimes I take a cab, and sometimes I walk. And when I do take the subway at 4 AM I am often the only guy on it except for the homeless. And as for 5 AM, that's when many systems start back up. I know Boston starts at 5 AM.

The fact that it runs all day is one of the few redeeming factors in the whole system. Changes need to be made, sure, but not such drastic ones.

Hardly drastic. The fact that New York IS the only 24 hour subway service in the world should tell you that it's a lousy way to maintain your equipment.

Who the fuck is this asshole who comes out of the woodwork to exploit death by spewing his personal diarrhea of the mouth to get the subway shut down at night. Go back to Boston or wherever the fuck hell hole you are from where the trains still shut down randomly and kill people despite them closing every single day. This is the greatest city in the world. My condolences to the workers' families and having to put up with that dickbag.

You're either a troll or mentally disabled. Can't have a discussion without namecalling and cursing? And hate to burst your bubble but New York is not the greatest city in the world. Saying it over and over doesn't make it so and really just exposes your total insecurity. You know it isn't true.

A real tragedy.
Now for my rant:

The New York City subway system is one of the worst in the world. It's dirty, antiquated and poorly maintained.
Add up all the revenue over the 100 years and you should have rails made out of gold with diamond studded stations, well, at least air conditioning.
I dislike waiting and watching the rats make better time uptown than I am. I just don't understand where the money goes. The MTA should do better.

Well, New York's unique system of express and local tracks allows it to run 24 hours.

Except when it doesn't and there's nothing but a thin line of red tape blocking the entrance to the station or one entire side of the platform. Or when your train is running on a different set of tracks entirely because they only do maintenance on weekends and the jobs never get done.

I'm not saying the system doesn't have some pretty big shortcomings, but these problems can be overcome without shutting the system down at night.

As a regular user of the G line, I have problems with both the TA and those who attack it.

I deeply regret the loss of life, but I wonder why the worker was on the "G" track at all. I can only assume he was poorly informed about service restrictions or chose to ignore this advice. The Hoyt-Schermerhorn station, which I visit daily, has four platforms and six tracks. The "outside" tracks lead to the long-abandoned Court Street station, today's Transit Museum. The platforms serving these tracks are closed to the public and frequently rented out to film crews. The "middle" tracks on both platforms are usually home to A and C trains, but service was suspended this weekend for maintenance. The G trains run on a matched pair of central tracks, the only tracks at the station where service was maintained.

I can see that TA crews were using the Hoyt Street station as a staging area, but why were workers not reminded that two of the six tracks were active? And why did the TA fail to effectively increase alternative bus service? It took me three tries to find a sardine can to accomodate me!

Of course, we need 24/7 service. I remember New Year's, 1966, when I had spent the evening dealing with difficult sexual issues. Around 3:00 AM, totally intoxicarted, I stumbled into the subway to find a ride to my temporary home. A train roared into the station, a bearded, grey-haired African-American at the controls. "Grandad will take me home," I thought.

So many accidents avoided. So many off-hour workers served. This IS "the city that never sleeps" in a literal sense. For the record, the longest scheduled gap on any subway line is 20 minutes.

Of course, maintenance is essential, and we all tolerate overnight and weekend interruptions to maintain a well-run system, so long as they are announced in advance and provide reasonable alternatives -- the usual rule.

Meanwhile, a bit more realism and a lot less personal bitching would be welcome here.

Harry Matthews

There are things called taxis and buses that will get you anywhere in half the time during those hours.

Right, so if I don't want to take an hour to get home to my borough, or spend $25 on a cab, I guess I shouldn't be out at 3am? I really think most people who work shifts other than "business hours" would disagree. This is not realistic for people who have grown up with a 24-hr system.

I remember a recent trip to London, and how 6 of us were stuck walking two miles to our destination at 4am because there were simply no cabs to be found. This would have been fine under normal circumstances, except that it was freezing, and we were mighty tired.

Shutting down the system at night wouldn't solve these problems, but I'm all for completely shutting down a line for however long it takes and devoting focused resources for maintenance. This way the displaced riders could at least get into a temporary routine (rather than occassional random interruptions) with shuttles to other trains, and transit workers would have safer conditions.