Results tagged “thelirr”

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.

This afternoon's rain will continue into the evening, as some areas are being warned about the storms. New Jersey is supposed to have heavy thunderstorms, a tornado warning was issued, then canceled, for Nassau County, and an urban flood warning was issued for Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens until 7PM!

Ever since a teenager died after falling through a large platform gap at the Woodside Long Island Rail Road station last summer, Newsday has had excellent coverage over the platform gap safety issue. On the Newsday website, there's an extensive "Investigating the Gap" section, complete with video, articles, and an amazing map.

Telling us what most any subway rider suspected, City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. issued a review of the MTA's "State of Good Repair" capital expenditures and found that the MTA isn't very committed to making sure subway and bus service is in a "State of Good Repair." For instance, the MTA is 10-15 years behind making NYC Transit assets reach a State of Good Repair: 40% of lettered lines have 70 year old signals, which cause delays; many fan plants that are supposed to take out smoke in case of a fire won't be in Good Repair until 2028 (they were supposed to be fixed this year); and there is still lighting from the 1930s in some subway tunnels.

Yesterday, mourners gathered at a funeral for Ari Kraft, a 13 year old Rego Park boy killed by an LIRR train Friday night. Kraft had been tagging signal boxes before crossing the tracks near the Forest Hills station - to rush home for Sabbath dinner - when a train bound for Huntington hit him. Newsday reports that during the funeral, "details of Kraft's death were not discussed...There was no discussion of graffiti art, which Kraft's friends have said he excelled in. Instead, he was remembered as a computer whiz whose life was cut short."

A train commute without a buzz? The MTA may look into banning alcohol sales on LIRR and Metro-North trains. The NY Sun reports MTA board member Mitchell Pally as saying, "They can have as many beers as they want as soon as they get home. I would prefer we don't let anyone drink alcohol on the train. If we're not ready to go that far … the least we can do is not make it easy for people to do it, which is, don't sell it."

The safety issue, according to Mr. Pally, is drunk driving when tipsy passengers head to their homes from train stations. Long Island Rail Road has been selling alcohol on platforms and aboard trains since the 1950s, and Metro-North has been serving it since 1976. No car accidents directly related to onboard drinking have been reported, and bartenders on the trains are not allowed to sell alcohol to passengers who seem to them to be inebriated.

The LIRR sells alcohol on platforms at Penn Station, Flatbush and Jamaica, plus on a few rush hour trains as well as trains to the Hamptons during the summer. Metro North sells alcohol at Grand Central platforms, plus on its New Haven line. A Metro-North spokeperson pointed out that people could bring drinks onto the train from elsewhere and that a ban would be "unenforceable."

The tragic death of Natalie Smead at the Woodside LIRR station made people wonder how the 18 year old could fall between the train car and platform in the first place. (Smead fell into the track, then rolled over to another train track where an incoming train hit her.) The answer becomes clearer in today's Daily News: The gap at the Woodside station was six to eight inches. Now, sure, the train conductors say to mind the gap, there are signs saying there's a gap, but six to eight inches seems egregiously big, especially when you're stepping down from a train car - you'd probably need to jump. Also, the Daily News points out:

There is no federal safety regulation that sets a maximum width for the gap between platform and train, a Federal Railroad Administration spokesman said. The Americans with Disabilities Act, though, sets a 3-inch gap limit at newly constructed or renovated stations.

No federal safety regulation for platform gaps - great. And if the ADA has a three inch gap rule for new stations, we'd venture to say that gaps of six inches or more is not kosher.

Well, Gateway National Recreation Area is right in our neck of the woods, extending in three New York City boroughs and into northern New Jersey. It is a good place to start your quest for the perfect patch of sand and cooling waters.

Starting next week one of the biggest shifts in commuter rail in the past two decades will begin. In response to rider demand Metro-North, New Jersey Transit and the LIRR are all in the process of seriously upping their pre-dawn service.