Subway Platform's "Little-Known Switch" Could Have Saved Man

Courtesy lachance.

[UPDATE BELOW] The MTA is looking into a horrible incident that occurred at the City College stop on the No. 1 train at 137th Street and Broadway on the morning of January 4th. Ronald Melichar, an official at the Department of Small Business Services, apparently had some sort of seizure and fell onto the tracks, where he was seen twitching and rolling up against the third rail. A witness ran to the token booth and urged the clerk to shut off the power, so the clerk got on the phone to arrange to turn the power off.

But according to the Daily News, there is a "little-known switch" in subway stations that enables people to temporarily disable the third rail in emergencies like this. Melichar was left on the track to be electrocuted and have a heart attack, and then two minutes later he was run over by a train. The Fire Department was able to get him out alive, and he's clinging to life at St. Luke's Hospital. (Doctors have amputated one of his legs.)

Melichar's sister is calling for an investigation; she wants to know why the train conductor wasn't notified of the emergency and why the bystanders weren't told about the switch. An NYC Transit spokesman tells the News they're looking into the incident, which, oddly enough, occurred almost exactly two years after "subway hero" Wesley Autrey jumped into the subway tracks to save a fellow straphanger at the same station. Anyone who caught that spooky Hungarian subway movie Kontroll will probably be inclined to start taking the bus.

UPDATE: MTA spokesperson Charles Seaton writes, "These switches are located in areas that are NOT accessible to subway customers. They are not on the station platform." And they're not accessible to the token booth clerk, either. Seaton declined to elaborate on their exact location, for obvious reasons.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By John Del Signore in News on January 14, 2009 9:54 AM

Comments [rss]

other_islander

The subway attendants are mostly useless...

mostly???

angry_pickle

The subway attendants are mostly useless. They seriously look dazed, bored, and confused most of the time. I also wonder how effective subway communication really is; because it is rare that the attendants know anything about what's happening. Does the MTA even have a technology officer responsible for bringing the MTA's communication system to at least up to 1998's technology standards?

NannyState

They should throw the switch on them booth clerks.

TKaisen

So, the booth clerk, who's tasked with babysitting the station, doesn't know the safety precautions in the stations.

That's some fine union labor right there.

jimmylegs

forget about the switch a minute; why wasn't the train stopped from running over the guy? who did the token booth guy call exactly? Jacoby & Myers?

sbest2048

Shouldn’t the train driver (engineer?) have noticed there was someone on the tracks and stopped the train? Isn’t that the whole point of paying a human to be at the controls vs automated trains?

Arun

Unfortunately, the train cannot stop in time if they do see someone on the tracks.

I passed the official MTA track safety course and can confirm that the blue lights are sites for the 3rd rail shutoff switch. Also you do have to make sure to call and read off your distance marker (a number on the wall telling where you are) and the line (example: 1 train uptown) to make sure that they don't turn it back on.

These lights can be found all along the tunnels but not on platforms.

The MTA is very slow to respond to calls and things though. The signal system is archaic, nowhere near modern standards. The control room can't even pinpoint where each train is, they can only find out which section of track they are on.

This is a very sad event and hopefully we won't need any more things like this to happen before the MTA gets more money to update the 100+ year old system.

colonelcasey

So with the update, it shows the the Daily News is just trying to sell some papers with a grandiose claim that the switch could've been accessed. All depends on whether someone wants to jump into the tunnel and find the cutoff switch at the blue lights.

unregistered_wiseguy

Some sort of primer on how to deal with the third rail would be helpful, too. I've heard about "the third rail" since I was a kid, but I would have no idea what to do about it if I had to jump onto the tracks to help someone.

fishfryin

there's not much to know. just don't touch it.

unregistered_wiseguy

If it's that dangerous, why don't they completely encase it in something?

ed_Extinct

I'm inclined to just walk the way service has been these days. This morning, we waited (me and about 1,000 other people piling into the station), at rush hour, 17 minutes for the #1 train at Columbus Circle.

I can't wait for more budget cuts.

CR

Yeah, #8, I can see how your horror story of having to wait 17 minutes for a train relates to a guy having a seizure, falling on the tracks where he was electrocuted by the third-rail, and then being hit by a train 2 minutes later after a toll booth clerk did almost nothing. You must be suffering PTSD after that wait. Our prayers go out to you.

fishfryin

im not sure about this third rail cutoff thing. unless it is located in a restricted area of the station and the employee didn't know about it, i don't think the mta or anyone else is at fault for that portion of it.

on the other hand, how the hell did a train run him over 2 minutes later?? did the employee even talk to anyone in control? my cynical guess is that the employee never did anything.

colonelcasey

I think there are emergency third rail cut off switches inside the tunnels by the blue lights. The blue lights means that there's either a fire extinguisher, telephone, emergency exit, station portal, or a cutoff switch.

Peter

I think there are emergency third rail cut off switches inside the tunnels by the blue lights. The blue lights means that there's either a fire extinguisher, telephone, emergency exit, station portal, or a cutoff switch.

That is correct. They are on the catwalks just inside the tunnels at either end of most platforms. Because they're on the catwalks you don't actually have to go down to track level to use them.

As I understand it, there is a phone located by most (all?) shutoff switches. Controllers normally will turn the power back on if a switch is pulled. To avoid having that happen, if you do pull the switch it is important to pick up the phone, someone should answer right away, and say that there is a person on the tracks.

It should go without saying that the cutoff switches are for use only when there is someone on the tracks or another dire emergency.

jeg

Peter is correct - there is a switch at the blue lights (along with an emergency phone that contacts the train control tower, _not_ 911) and a fire extinguisher. The shutoff switch is not located on the station platform - it is usually 50-100 feet down into the tunnel. If you do not call the train control tower when you pull the switch, they will restore the power quickly. The only reason to go into the tunnel to the blue lights is in the event of an emergency like this.

As for the third rail, it is the elevated (a couple of inches off the ground) rail that carries the power for the trains (600 volts). If you touch the third rail and the ground, it is very often fatal. Above the third rail is usually a wood plank which prevents things from accidentally falling on it, but is not strong enough for you to step on. If you ever have to cross the third rail, stand perpendicular to it (sideways), and then lift one foot over the rail, then the other. This prevents you from accidentally dropping your toe and catching the rail.

BTW, all this information (and much more) is taught to CERT team members - you can find out more about CERT by clicking here. I am a CERT team chief for Chelsea/Hell's Kitchen, and we (and the rest of CERT) are looking for new members to help with disaster preparedness and response. I can be reached at jegordon (at) yahoo dot com.

pete

Some people here are confusing Japan with NYC.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:TrainStopButtonSignJapan.jpg

Kyle T

I had the same question as RooseveltIsland360. Also, I think the main lesson here is don't stand/walk close to the track, especially if you are prone to seizures.

Last year I was driving a truck with some motorcycles in the back past a construction site up in Harlem. I was stopped at a light when a construction worker ran up to my window and, very giddily, said, "hey man, tell them to send a bike up here for the hero!" Then he explained that he was Wesley, the hero who jumped onto the tracks.

Rocknrope

Ugh. Seems rather churlish that the "subway hero" refers to himself as "the hero", especially when he then has to explain who he is.

RooseveltIsland360

Ok, we now know there is a switch but where is it? Your post does not say. I am assuming it is in the token booth. If so why wasn't the clerk in the booth aware of it?

Jen Chung

The Daily News didn't reveal where exactly the switch is... and I guess the switch is so "little-known" that the clerk had no idea. A guess is that NYC Transit might not want all employees to know about it, lest they be tempted to actually use it.

zodak

i don't think it's a good idea that this switch is now public knowledge.

the sister needs to come to the grips with the fact that this was a horrible accident & no one is to blame.

camarilla

If the switch was available and wasn't used (whether by idiocy or a failure in someone's training), it IS negligent and someone is to blame.