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Yestedary morning, a woman fell into the gap between the platform edge and train at the Syosset LIRR train station. The 60-year-old woman slipped and suffered abrasions on her legs when she was boarding a Penn Station-bound train. The gap was measured to be between 10 and 12 inches.
The station has a curved track, with some gaps as wide as 15 inches there. The LIRR says a consultant recommended solutions like "platform extensions or changing track geometry," according to Newsday. Still, LIRR Commuter Council president Gerard Bringmann told Newsday, "I would avoid Syosset station unless I really had to take it."
Platform gap safety has been a major issue ever since a teenager died after slipping through the gap at the Woodside station and being hit by an oncoming train in 2006. The LIRR has tried to increase its platform gap awareness as well as fixing some of the huge gaps, to varying degrees of success.
Earlier this year, Newsday created map showing many of the gaps and complaints along the LIRR.
Photograph by Triborough on Flickr
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Solutions to customer service?
"Still, LIRR Commuter Council president Gerard Bringmann told Newsday, "I would avoid Syosset station unless I really had to take it."
nice, very nice. why don't you just shut the station down then, since you think no one should go there.
they have been telling riders to "watch the gap" at every stop all year long now, so this woman is to blame for not being careful.
I don't think the LIRR Commuter Council is affiliated with the MTA.
No, they're not. But what kind of advice is that anyway? Why would anyone be at any LIRR station unless they had to be?
why dont they put those extenders like they have on the downtown 456 and union sq.?
Zodak, if your 60 year old mother slipped and fell and cut up her legs, would you be yelling, "GEEZ MA YOU GOTTA BE MORE CAREFUL! WATCH THE GAP!" as you lifted her of the tracks?
Victim blaming is lame.
According to the LIRR Commuter Council website:
The Long Island Rail Road Commuter's Council (LIRRCC) was created by the New York State Legislature in 1981 to represent the official voice of LIRR riders. Our twelve volunteer members are appointed by the Governor upon the recommendation of the Nassau and Suffolk County Executives, and the Brooklyn and Queens Borough Presidents.
There are also two other officially sanctioned riders groups, the Metro-North Railroad Commuter Council and the New York City Transit Riders Council which are part of the the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Oddly there is no representation for MTA's Long Island Bus and MTA Bus (ex-private bus lines) riders.
And from its FAQ pamphlet:
The PCAC receives an annual budget from the MTA which covers the costs for a five-member staff of transportation planning professionals and expenses. However, staff are not employees of the MTA, which allows the PCAC to maintain its independence.
We should also note that their offices are at MTA headquarters at 347 Madison.
As for the gaps on curves, the IRT back in the early part of the 20th Century installed gap fillers in stations on curves. Think Union Square on the 4/5/6 and South Ferry on the 1.
If they could do it then why not now?
Track 1 at Flatbush Avenue has the biggest gaps of all on the LIRR. Toward the east end of a train they can be well over one foot wide.
Pik, i would tell my mom "they have been telling riders to 'watch the gap' at every stop all year long now, why weren't you paying attention to the gap?? you should be more careful around these train tracks, it is very dangerous. a man was killed by one of these trains just this month."
Zodak isn't blaming the victim at all. Those gaps can be wide though, it might be too much for an older person(although 60 isn't that elderly)
I don't think the Woodside case is really a good comparison, as the girl in question was found to have been drinking, the gap was fairly small, and she foolishly tried to crawl out to the otherside away from the train - where she was struck by another train. Very sad, but that one was avoidable on the part of the victim.
How about posting "Mind the gap" posters UK style everywhere? This is actually a problem with trains worldwide...you just have to be careful. Accidents and injuries will happen, but some are avidable
Obviously "spoon" hasn't taken the LIRR recently. They have a lot of watch the gap signs and posters in stations and on trains.