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After rider's death, NY studies gaps between trains, platforms

By ADAM GOLDMAN
Associated Press Writer

August 22, 2006, 5:37 PM EDT

NEW YORK -- State authorities said Tuesday they'll study the safety of the gaps between commuter trains and platforms at 250 railroad stations following the death of a teenager who fell into one about a foot wide.

The comprehensive study is expected to take more than six months and could include recommendations such as widening train cars or installing moveable platforms at certain stations of the Metro-North Railroad and the Long Island Rail Road, the nation's two largest commuter railroads.

But state legislators and the LIRR's president said they believe it's too early to say what conclusions experts would reach after the state's Public Transportation Safety Board finishes the study of the gaps, which are up to 15 inches wide.

"I'm not gonna rule out anything at this time," LIRR President James Dermody said during a news conference at the Woodside station in Queens, where an 18-year-old tourist from Minnesota was killed Aug. 5 after slipping through a gap and being struck by a train.

PTSB Chairman Tom Madison said the investigation into the death of the teen, Natalie Smead, would take 90 days. It's results are likely to answer additional questions about gap safety.

A gaggle of reporters pressed Dermody, Madison and others about the timing of their decision to tackle concerns about gap safety after years of knowing it was a problem.

The reporters got a straightforward answer.

"Why now?" Sen. Nicholas Spano, a Westchester Republican, asked rhetorically. "A young woman was killed right here, and we want to make sure this does not happen again."

Sen. Dean Skelos, a Long Island Republican, said the review would go beyond gap issues. Platforms had to be safe, period, Skelos said, which is why there's a systematic review of all Metro-North and LIRR platforms.

The campaign coordinator for the Disabled Riders Coalition, Michael Harris, criticized officials for waiting too long to launch the study.

"We're glad they're gonna do it, but it shouldn't take the death of an 18-year-old girl to prompt them," Harris said.

Madison defended the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which runs Metro-North and the LIRR, citing statistics. In 2005, he said, there were only 59 gap-related incidents out of 91 million riders who used the LIRR.

"The ratio is incredibly small," Madison said. "Having said that ... one accident, one injury or certainly one fatality is not acceptable."

Dermody said his agency hadn't ignored the gap problems that are caused for instance by a station's curvature and the design of fast-moving trains, whose sides are straight.

"I think we've always realized that there is a problem with gaps," Dermody said. "It is not an easy solution."

Dermody said he had employed education programs that used fliers or posters to inform riders about the gaps. He also said each train car has two signs warning riders about the gaps.

Yellow stickers on train doors say, "Watch The Gap."

But Dermody conceded that he'd have to explore alternatives and look at new technology after the death of Smead and a serious injury to a former Broadway dancer, who broke her neck and was left paralyzed after suffering a similar fall two years ago.

"We thought our education program was working," Dermody said. "And the statistics of it would indicate that it basically was. But, unfortunately, we had the unfortunate accidents, and now we have to go back and take a second look at it."

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