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Metro-North Worker Killed

Posted by
on January 13th, 2009 at 4:59 pm

The MTA has been hit with a number of tragedies lately. Unfortunately the horrible trend as continued as a Metro-North worker was killed just west of the Rye station this past Friday. The Connecticut Post had more in this initial report:

A train struck and killed a Metro-North employee Friday night just west of the Rye, N.Y., station, a railroad spokesman said.

A police investigation into the incident stopped train service going west and east through the Rye station, MTA spokesman Dan Brucker said.

Metro-North reported that outbound service from Grand Central Terminal to New Haven resumed at about 8:25 p.m.

The train was traveling from Grand Central Terminal to New Haven when it struck the employee at about 7 p.m., Brucker said. The worker’s name was not released because his family had not been notified.

He was a signal maintainer and helped repair and maintain the signals that tell trains to switch tracks, an MTA spokeswoman said.

“He was a long-time employee,” railroad spokeswoman Marjorie Anders said. “Everybody knew him.”

Though service was restored, commuters were told to expect slight delays, she said.

His identity was not initially released due to his family not yet having been notified. Eventually his identity was revealed & the worker turned out to be 25 year veteran Kenneth McGrath. The Connecticut Post, courtesy of Frank MacEachern, once again had the report:

A New Rochelle, N.Y., resident with a quarter-century of experience with Metro-North Railroad has been identified as the rail worker killed by a train near the Rye, N.Y., station Friday night.

Kevin McGrath, 49, was a signal maintainer, railroad spokesman Dan Brucker said Saturday.

The accident occurred just south of the Rye station at 7:03 p.m. Friday, when a Metro-North train from Grand Central Station bound for New Haven struck McGrath.

Metropolitan Transportation Authority police were investigating, Metro-North spokeswoman Marjorie Anders said Saturday.

The MTA runs and operates Metro-North and other commuter lines.

Anders said the death appeared to be accidental but said all circumstances will be investigated.

McGrath was pronounced dead at the scene. His body was transferred to the Westchester County Medical Examiner’s office in Valhalla, Brucker said.

The railroad, the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Railroad Administration will participate in the investigation, Anders said.

The passengers were transferred to another train, Brucker said.

The accident delayed service a little more than one hour for 12,000 Metro-North customers, Brucker said. Twelve trains were halted to allow MTA police to investigate.

Click here for the complete report.

I would like to take this time to offer my condolences to the friends, family & peers of Kenneth. None of us ever like to hear or read about a hard working MTA employee being killed. Hopefully the streak of untimely deaths within the MTA family comes to an end.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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0

Bus Driver & Friend Killed In Queens

Posted by
on January 12th, 2009 at 4:12 pm

Unfortunately tragedy has once again struck the close colony that makes up MTA New York City Transit bus drivers. Last month 46 year old Edwin Thomas was fatally stabbed while operating the B46. This time a 32 year old bus driver named Andre Saunders & his 21 year old friend LeMarr Wilson were killed in a wild shootout on a Queens street corner. The incident took place in front of the Jamaica Houses at 160th St. and 109th Ave. Edgar Sandoval & Simone Weichselbaum of the New York Daily News have more on this horrific tragedy:

A city bus driver and a friend were shot and killed in an afternoon shootout on a Queens streetcorner, police said.

Andre Saunders, 32, of Beach Channel, was hit in the head and chest when at least one gunman opened fire outside the Jamaica Houses at 160th St. and 109th Ave., police and neighbors said.

The slain man worked as a bus driver for the Metropolitan Transit Authority and also filmed rap videos as a hobby, officials said.

Saunders was filming a video with two other men, ages 17 and 21, outside the housing development when gunfire erupted, friends said.

Lemarr Wilson, 21, was taken to Mary Immaculate Hospital with a gunshot wound to the head, police said. He died later. A third man, 17, was struck in the leg during the 4:45 p.m. melee.

Police said they had no motive for the shootings and appealed for witnesses to come forward.

Click here for the complete story.

My condolences go out to the victims of this horrific tragedy. I hope the individual(s) responsible are fully punished. I also wish only the best for the rest of our bus drivers & other MTA employees who due their best to move us from one destination to another.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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0

Surprising Critic Of Elliot Sander

Posted by
on January 12th, 2009 at 3:55 pm

Many different people have echoed frustrations at the possibility of fare hikes & service cuts. Some have even started websites to try & save their route. However none of these critics come as a surprise but the next one definitely does. The latest criticism stems from MTA CEO/Executive Director Elliot Sander’s own 15 year old daughter Bria who frequently takes advantage of weekend service on the Q76 & Q79. Pete Donohue of the New York Daily News has more in this report:

MTA chief Elliot Sander has one more irate straphanger to contend with – his daughter.

Sander’s 15-year-old daughter, Bria, is giving him flak about doomsday budget plans that would whack weekend bus service on the Q76 and Q79 routes in Queens.

The teen uses the routes on Saturdays to get to school plays, test prep classes and, of course, to meet friends and go shopping.

“I told him he shouldn’t do it,” Bria told the Daily News Thursday.

Sander, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s chief executive officer and top target for riders’ wrath, tries to explain he doesn’t want to reduce service.

Cuts will be necessary if the state Legislature doesn’t bail out the bus, subway and commuter train system, he argues.

The authority is legally required to have a balanced budget; it has massive budget gaps, he explains.

“Whatever,” Bria said with a note of jest. “He should just get the money for it. It’s a big commuter system. It’s cheap and it’s good for the environment to ride the bus.”

Click here for the complete report.

I must say I was shocked when I read this story earlier today. I am not sure how I missed this report which was first posted on Friday. I find it adorable that she is against the MTA potentially cutting service even if her feelings of jest & subsequent request for her dad to “ust get the money for it” is not as easy as she makes it sound. If her dad could just snap his fingers & get the money, believe me he would without thinking about it.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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1

Editorial: Saving The M8

Posted by
on January 12th, 2009 at 2:08 pm

For the last few months, the majority of talk around this blog & others like it has been the “fare hikes & service cuts.

One of the proposed service cuts was the elimination of the M8, a popular crosstown route that takes riders between the East & West Village. The possible elimination of this route caused local officials & residents to be frustrated. This past Friday, a New York University (NYU) writing teacher named Kate Walter wrote an editorial in the New York Daily News. The piece was about how the MTA’s plan to eliminate the M8 exemplifies how the “wheels are coming off” at the agency:

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s budget slashing would eliminate my beloved M8 bus route, the only crosstown mass transit in Greenwich Village. This is an outrageously bad idea.

As a resident of the far West Village, I ride the M8 a lot. In fact, I’ve been riding it for more than 30 years. I can’t imagine my life without it. I know the friendly drivers by name and the sullen ones by sight. I take this bus to my teaching job, to the Jefferson Market Library, to my church on Second Ave. and to the copy shop on E. Ninth St. I socialize, shop and dine in the East Village.

I’m not the only person who will be hurt. The absence of this major channel will hurt businesses, especially stores and restaurants in the vicinity of Eighth St. On weekends, the stop by Kmart is jammed with shoppers heading toward Alphabet City with their many packages. Owners of the small boutiques and vintage shops on E. Ninth and E. Seventh Sts. have been struggling for years. Killing the M8 could put them out of business for good.

My elected officials and the local community board have been voicing their outrage over the proposed cut and there’s even a Web site – savethem8.org – where citizens can sign a petition against the MTA’s decision. I’ll do my part and write letters and speak out, all while hoping this is a trick by the MTA. Maybe MTA officials are thinking that if they threaten to cut important routes and then save them, riders will gladly pay another big fare increase.

Click here for the complete editorial.

Like I said last month, the elimination of this route surprised me considering it gets decent ridership & serves a legitimate purpose. I definitely applaud & more importantly support the efforts started to help save the M8. If any readers would like to support their cause, feel free & visit their website at SaveTheM8.org.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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1

Service Diversions 01-09

Posted by
on January 9th, 2009 at 3:59 pm

Normally I would be updating the service diversions page today with the latest changes for the weekend & beyond. However due to the major snowstorm that is expected, just about all work for this weekend is canceled. The MTA issued a press release with the latest information:

Due to the weather forecast of 3-8 inches of snow for tomorrow, January 10, MTA New York City Transit has canceled most of the scheduled maintenance work for this weekend. At this time, this cancellation includes work on the 1 2 3 4 6 A C D G J L N Q R S and W lines, as stated in Press Release #3 dated January 8, 2009. Work on the 7 is, however, likely to proceed, but from Times Square-42nd Street to Grand Central-42nd Street instead of from Times Square-42nd Street to Queensboro Plaza as originally planned.

While the subway portions of the system remain unaffected during snowstorms, there are nearly 220 miles of outdoor track throughout the four boroughs, and NYC Transit has heavy-duty equipment designed to move snow, melt ice and do anything else that must be done to maintain service during inclement weather. Subway lines such as the Rockaway, Sea Beach, Brighton and the Dyre Avenue segments, are particularly vulnerable to snow and freezing precipitation.

During a heavy snowstorm, tracks on outdoor subway lines must be cleared often, the third rails kept free of ice and outdoor steps at all 468 subway stations shoveled and salted. Elevated lines do not have the problem of snow build up as the flakes fall between the ties, but platforms and staircases still must be kept clear of snow and salted to melt ice, and it takes a small army of employees to accomplish this task.

To prevent subway trains from being blocked in yards, they are moved and stored underground in anticipation of heavy snow or ice. This may have some impact on regular subway service, including the inability to run express train service on some lines. A cold weather service poster is available at www.mta.info/nyct/service/advisory.html for your information.

Customers may call our Travel Information Center at 718-330-1234 from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily, or log onto www.tripplanner.mta.info to use Trip Planner to plan their trips. Customers with web enabled phones or PDAs can use our Trip Planner On-the-Go! by going to www.tripplanner.mta.info/mobile; in addition to planning their trips, Blackberry users can download the free icon for one touch access to the service.

I will be updating the pages later tonight or tomorrow with next week’s changes if any are available.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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